MegaMan Z: Edge of Shadows
by Sw0rdmaster
Summary: Biometal tech is no longer a luxury; it's essential to life. Bionet has been keeping humans alive for years now. Despite the ills of radiation, Bionet has revolutionized it's time. Yet another hurdle is on the horizon... some oddity called the Z-Virus.
1. You've Got Mail

**Chapter 1**

**You've Got Mail**

_"-Accessing Bionet Profile…_

_"-Access Complete._

_"-Attention: Message marked Priority S from 'Biolife Corp.'. Immediate response is imperative. Priority command engaged. Accessing inbox…_

_"-Access Complete. Opening message…_

_"-Message from 'Arc' of 'Biolife Corp'._

_"-Subject: Crucial Development on Z Virus._

_"-Message:_

_"Greetings and good day to you, Bionet user. Although it is rare for me to personally take the time to write the updates we have here at Biolife Corporations, I have deemed it necessary for me to handle this imperative message, not only for the sake of properly conveying the velocity of our current situation, but that by means of writing this myself, you will understand why it is important for you to read what follows._

_"Bionet, the result of years of effort to counteract myriad cataclysms that have befallen mankind and reploids alike, has been running smoothly and efficiently for nearly a century. By means of biotmetal technology, we were successful in creating the equipment you now know as Bioframes. Through regulation and monitoring of your system, we can track the effect of radiation on your body and keep you living through the use of biometal functionality and researched neurotoxins. As a result, life has remained stable through Bioframes and the interconnecting network that is Bionet._

_"However, like world wide systems in the past, our technology highway is still susceptible to threats. Although we here at Biolife Corporations have taken drastic steps to reduce the threat to the system and your personal well-being, complete protection is an ongoing effort that requires up to date improvements and constant attention to every detail. Rest assured that I and my colleagues strive to keep the system online and running at maximum proficiency for the sake of your safety and comfort._

_"You may be aware that recently a new virus has been identified. It has been titled here by our experts as the Z Virus. It is still a relatively new, and thus unrefined, virus that has appeared on the network. Symptoms of Bioframe infection include short-circuits and the inability to use basic biomerge functions. Although these effects are not considered to be high-level threats, there is still an immediate need to rectify these problems, as well as eradicate the Z Virus from Bionet completely._

_"You should also be aware that we here at Biolife Corporations have been feverishly working on a vaccine for this new virus. It is publicly rumored that we do not know enough to properly combat it at this point. This statement is false. Although the virus is in its early stages, we possess enough about it to materialize a solution that will shut it down before it reaches maturity._

_"In the next twenty-four hours, a vaccine will be made available at hospitals, police stations, and other appropiate facilities in your area. Like many viruses, it cannot simply be dealt with via a firewall or code, but must be injected physically. According to research, the virus has a dangerous potential to eventually alter blood cells through the Bioframe and cause permanent damage. This is not currently an imminent threat, but it is one none the less._

_"As such, this revolutionary vaccine you will receive syncs with the Bioframe system through the bloodstream. For those of you who are not educated on how the Bioframe system works and are concerned about what this vaccine does, I will elaborate. Each bioframe analyzes the host's blood and creates personal coding from the host's blood makeup. The bloodstream and Bioframe technology eventually synchronize and become as if they were one. In generic terms, your bioframe merges with your body, as you should already be aware of. This is how the system keeps you safe from radiation and other harmful physical threats. Therefore, it is not only possible for the Bioframe to alter your blood, but your blood to alter the inner workings of your bioframe._

_"We have, as such, devised an incredibly effective solution. The Z Virus infects the Bioframe, but it cannot alter blood cells unless conditions are right. This vaccine strengthens the blood cells through a revolutionary means, one of which we cannot disclose; such a disclosure could result in those responsible for the Z Virus to seek and find a hole in the cure, although there are none foreseen at this time. Through this powerful blood serum, the Bioframe's makeup is adapted and the combined defense of your body and technology working together prevent infection and combat invading Z Virus attacks._

_"Not only will this protect from the Z Virus itself, but we are proud to announce that this vaccine should increase overall efficiency of the Bioframe system, as well as shielding the host from future threats. We are thrilled with the outcome of our research, and are happy to announce that it is ready to be distributed._

_"It is of critical importance that you receive this vaccine. Prior to scheduled times for vaccine availability, you will be sent another message detailing the time you are to go and retrieve your vaccination. This is to prevent a surge of initial patients flooding participating facilities all at once; we assure you that you will receive your vaccine in a punctual manner that will not endanger your life through unneeded postponement. However, we ask your cooperation in the meantime by abiding under our time constrictions._

_"Once you are injected, no further action will be needed at the time. You will be free to return to your business as usual. Bionet has already been modified accordingly to accommodate the new alterations that will occur to your Bioframe system. In due time, the vaccine will strengthen your overall performance, and any initial side effects you may feel will be minor and should pass within twenty four hours of vaccination. We here at Biolife Corporations have taken the utmost care in the design and production of this vaccine, and we insure you your experience will be one of excellence._

_"As mentioned before, you will be mailed your vaccination time. Please wait until then to go to a participating facility. As for the Z Virus itself, we will continue to vigorously monitor and research it to combat any other threats that may arise from it._

_"I, Arc, personally thank you for your cooperation. May you allow we here at Biolife Corporations to continue supplying your every need._

_"Salutation and farewell,_

_"CEO of Biolife Corporations,_

_"Arc."_


	2. Pain & Recollection

**Author Notes: The name Ghar is pronounced like the first syllable in the name Gary.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Pain & Recollection**

"So then, this guy is just asking for it. I mean, he thinks he knows everything and that he can just push me around, or anyone for that matter… so I tell him to shut up, and he doesn't like that, but then again who would, because it's just one of those things that people really seem to get cheesed over and it's just—Rend, you are listening, right?"

"Yes, Ghar, I'm listening," Came the mundane response.

Ghar, Rend's messy brown-haired friend, then continued to run his mouth. A rather apathetic look across his face, Rend just slouched back in the chair, an uncommon luxury when the hospital was as crowded as it was. Rend and Ghar had left work early to get the important new vaccine that was needed for the Z-Virus, and they were waiting for their names to be called.

As his friend continued to ramble, Rend lifted his hand to push his shades up so they wouldn't fall from his face. As he did this, he took note of the Bioframe that was on his arms in gauntlet form. Similar technological plating was found on his shins and chest, a belt wrapped around his waist, and a band that curved around his head, stopping short at the eyes. Thanks to this, humanity lived on.

A nurse called for his friend, so Ghar was pulled into the back to chew another person's ear off for the time being. Rend grimaced; admittedly, he preferred the incessant chatter of his friend to the white noise of a crowd's colliding babble-fest. He let his hand slip down over the energy dagger sheathed on his belt. He gripped it firmly, as if he was trying to seize something more than the dagger itself. Slowly, his head drifted back and he tried to relax…

He failed, however, because within seconds he heard his name float across the room from another nurse.

The nurse greeted him cordially and began to lead him through the weaving halls of the hospital. Finally she took him into an empty room where she requested he take a seat.

"I have your vaccine ready." She stated, a smile on her face. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, of course." Rend didn't even bother to look at her when he talked.

"My, you certainly aren't the social type, are you?" Apparently unhindered by his cold mannerisms, she pulled out her syringe and carefully placed it on Rend's arm. The white-haired male barely even twitched. "There. All done!"

At least she wasn't giving flak back to him. Deciding not to be completely void of common courtesy, Rend turned his head and nodded. "Thank you. May I leave?"

"Oh yes, please do. I have so many other people to get to today. I already feel so tired."

"Good day then." Barely acknowledging anything past her first two words, he rose and exited as blankly as he had entered.

* * *

"Really, I think it's just a notion most people have. I mean, why on earth would people do something like that? I've thought hard enough about it, and after much consideration, what possesses people to put their necks out like that and just totally and utterly—"

"Ghar."

Rend and his friend were now walking down the hall of their apartment complex. It was located near the southeast corner of Topias, the moderately energetic city in which both resided.

Ghar caught the typical raised eyebrow. "You know you talk way too much sometimes, right? It's gets to be too much when all you talk about is your misguided opinions."

"Well fine. Just ignore me. See if I ever speak to you again."

"You will. Why you bother saying something so stupid is beyond me. Then again, this kind of speech is customary for you."

Ghar was accustomed to his friend's blunt honesty, so he just rolled it off himself just like every other time. "Well, whatever." The two stopped in front of a door marked with the number 0217. "See you tomorrow?"

"We ride the same means of transportation and work in the same complex. That, and you cling to me like a sweat-soaked overcoat. What do you think?"

"You never have a lack of poignant words to say, do you?" Chuckling to himself, he cast a glance over at the door across the hall. "Hey, you think the codger went for a vaccine?"

"How should I know? He locks himself in his room twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. He could wear a circus performer's outfit all year round and I wouldn't know it... nor would I really care."

"Hey, I put up with your trash, but others may not appreciate your taste of speech so much, yeah?" Ghar, without hesitation, patted Rend on his right shoulder, brushing his shoulder-length hair slightly. Then, trying to make a cool-guy exit, threw up the collar on his bright white coat and spun around. "Later dude."

And yet in all this Rend's expression remained nearly unchanged, save a short sigh and a slight shift of the eyes upwards. Already with the key in the door, he quickly stepped into his apartment. Closing the door behind him, he saw the door across the hall one more time.

Truth was, he'd heard things about the guy. There had been a massive conflict a decade ago, known by most simply as the "Insurrection". There had been a massive surge of Mavericks that had threatened the stability of man and reploid society. That was pretty much the basic gist of what he knew.

Then, through the gossiping tongues of his coworkers and the general public, he'd heard this guy next door was an unparalleled war veteran. He'd been through countless tight spots and had escaped with most of his skin in tact every time. But ever since the conflict ended, he'd retreated into solitude. No one was exactly sure why.

But it didn't matter much to Rend. He really could care less. He didn't care too much about much of anything these days. The only person who could be considered anything of a friend to him would be Ghar. Ghar was nothing more than a cocky loud-mouth, yet somehow Rend found himself able to tolerate him. His frequent conversations about nothing were actually what helped Rend stay sane. It was simply the fact that someone was giving him the time of day. He wasn't a people person, but he was not interested in being a hermit either. He just hadn't gotten too close to anyone since…

Shaking his head as if to loose some painful memory from his thoughts. Hanging his long, dark-violet coat in the closet, he walked over to the window. The neon signs of Topias created the familiar spectrum of colors that reflected the prosperity at which the city operated. Down below, it was clearly noticeable that many were far from done with their nights. Whether they were off to some high-end restaurant or just seeing what would come their way, life seemed good. The neon bounced off the dark blue and gray colors of the myriad buildings, creating a vibrant blaze that seemed to fuel the energy of those below.

Rend had no taste for the nightlife, however. He slipped the curtains over his second story window, partially blotting out the radiance coming from without. He took a seat on his bed and took a deep, tense breath. Again, he found his hand grasping the dagger at his side. His gaze shifted to the small table at the bed's side, where a framed picture sat neatly in place. In it, there was a small boy, with the hand of a teenage girl resting on his frame… a picture of him and his older sister.

Never in his life had he known someone so dedicated as her. Not just in her duties as a military apprentice, for that was her position, but as a family member. She had participated in the "Insurrection", and had fought tooth and nail for that which she considered important to her. For one so young, her superiors were impressed. She was not invincible, however; in one of the final bouts of the ordeal, she sustained an incredibly severe injury. Fortunately, after four months of exhaustive care, she was released, even if not in the best of shape. Nonetheless, she was alive.

Given the circumstances, she took her leave of the military to focus on rearing Rend. Both of their parents had died shortly after Rend had been born, and she had taken it upon herself to give him the best she could. She kept the apartment in top condition, helped him with his schooling, and even taught him some basic combat skills; the dagger had been a gift from her following the hospital visit. Rend had valued so deeply the bond the two had shared. She poured herself fully into giving him a passionate upbringing.

But then an unknown complication arose pertaining to her war injury. After a long, struggle-filled fight, it claimed her life… leaving Rend alone.

That was four years ago. He was now eighteen and taking care of himself. Supplying the means of life was not an issue. Yet, it was of little consolation. He'd lost the one most precious to him on this earth, the one who understood him most.

Was he really that much different from those around him? Was he so different that he found himself lacking in the desire for a social life? True, he could work harder at associating with people. But ultimately, his personality was one of dogged devotion to that which he held dear. Despite his frigid exterior, he would take to such a duty with all his being.

But what was left in his life that held such precious value to him? He wasn't finding it in other people, even Ghar, and those that encountered him certainly didn't view him as an ideal acquaintance. And so he was trapped in a perpetual cycle of misunderstanding and, though sealed deep within himself, unsettling confusion.

Kicking off his heavy brown shoes and pulling off his black fingerless gloves, he laid back on his bed. As he stared at the nothingness of the ceiling, he wondered at everything and nothing. So what now? Obviously the past was behind; history had been written. So what of tomorrow? Could possibly one more sunrise be all that was needed to expose what he'd been looking for? Although clouded with doubt, time marched him forward anyway.


	3. Eye of Chaos

**Chapter 3**

**Eye of Chaos**

It wasn't the best night of sleep he'd had, but Rend came to quickly, alert as ever. Stretching, he let his feet fall over the bed and slip into his shoes. Grabbing the shades from his nightstand, he put them in place and stood with ease. He paused for a moment; despite a mediocre night of sleep, he felt… incredible. He was fully awake, and he felt like every fiber of his being was coursing with strength. "Huh." He remarked to himself, "What do you know… that vaccine thing actually works like they said it would."

He quickly became annoyed, however, as he realized there was some strange ringing in his ear. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of it, but it wouldn't cease. Stopping for a moment, it then dawned on him. It wasn't ringing in his ear that he heard… someone's car alarm was going off below his window. He seemed to recall something whirring in his subconscious-state. Letting out an irritated sigh, he moved over to the window.

How odd, though, that no one had done anything about it yet. Maybe the owner was on the other side of the building, but at the very least someone should've at this point done something. He could hardly imagine a normal person sleeping with that blaring in their range of hearing. But people were also lazy. Regardless, he pushed back the curtain over his window to investigate.

And suddenly he wished he hadn't.

Something was wrong with the situation, yes. But a more fitting description would be to say something was terribly and disastrously wrong. And not just with the vehicle…

But with the panorama of total chaos that laid before him.

Buildings were utterly blasted through with holes and crevices. The roads below were blanketed heavy in all manner of scrap. And for all that he saw, he could not see a single human or reploid.

What in all of earth could've happened was completely beyond him. Such total destruction—one which he no less had slept through and emerged unharmed—seemed totally impossible. It seemed to bend the very fabric of reality.

He stepped back, breathing heavily. His mind drifted… drifted for a few instants… then came back. Somehow, by some maddening insanity, what lay before him was by all means real; it was some manner of horrible fantasy that somehow had been brought to life.

Whatever was happening… was truly happening.

Rend clutched the dagger at his side. He didn't know what the proper reaction was supposed to be. But staying where he was now was not an option. He hastily went for the door, grabbing his gloves and coat on the way. What caused this? Some spontaneous maverick attack? A natural disaster? Furthermore, he once again questioned, how could he still be alive? Why was his own room completely untouched? He pushed it from his head; if nothing was going to make sense right now, he dared not crumble his mind over a logic he would not grasp.

Shoving the door open, he was greeted with more pandemonium. The halls of the apartment lay in ruin. Doors had been ripped off their hinges and rooms lay in waste. It then occurred to him: not only did he see no one, but no remnant of human or reploid. No body, no hull, nothing. The population in ths city was largely human, but even still. It was another disturbing mystery, but he had to focus on survival rather than straining his mind.

Obviously the apartment complex was in as bad of shape as all the other buildings he'd seen and, especially given his position on the second floor, it would be unwise to wait around for it to crash into ruin. Rend quickly made his way for the nearest staircase.

Finally, after navigating to the first floor and to the main lobby, he emerged to the dust-choked scene outside. Destruction was total. His window had not by some strange feat distorted the vista he'd seen. It was still every bit real.

Rend felt a terrible pain grip him. How the heck was this all happening? He knew it was real now, not that there was any doubt in the first place. And the more he tried to get his bearings about him, the more he spiraled into disbelief. This pushed the limits of what he thought was real. To have such complete ruin, in the span of a single night, with not so much as a hint of survivors or victim's remains, was… there were no words.

But then, a spark of light… he heard footsteps to his left. He shot his eyes instantly to his side. Finally! He saw a group of about four people convening on the street corner. He couldn't remember the last time he was so elated to see other people.

Effortlessly, he ran towards them with incredible agility. He wasn't even thinking about it. He just knew that the answers he sought were amongst the figures standing in the distance.

He nearly plowed one of them over, but he kept himself controlled and stopped. Despite all that was going on, he knew how to keep a level tone, and spoke without panic. "Hey! What's going on here? Do you know anything?"

The figures did not respond. He noticed now that they appeared to be sleeping in place, for their eyes were closed. "Hey… are you guys all right? Hello? What in heck…"

Then, the one in front of him moved. He turned to face Rend, but his eyes remained shut as if he was responsing via sleepwalk. Rend took a step backwards. It was ridiculous to waste thoughts on such an obvious notion, but something didn't bode right.

Rend tried one more time. "Can you… hear me?"

And suddenly, the eyes flew open... revealing an inhuman, total blaze of red.

"This… cannot be good."

_"Anomaly detected."_

"The what?" Rend began to slowly retreat, keeping his eyes focused on the red-eyed human. As the human's monotone voice rang, the others looked up, their eyes displaying the same fiery color.

_"Anomaly detected."_

Mechanically, there bodies snapped into a position that faced him and, laboriously, they began to unnaturally march towards him. Unaware of what truly was going on, Rend certainly was not going to stay and find out. He took off away from them full speed.

_"Anomaly detected. Correction sequence engaged."_

Rend could hear their feet racing after him. This was turning into a complete nightmare, and he was at a loss for anything. All he could muster up as a plan was not to panic. That, and run. Fast.

Approaching the opposite street corner, he flew around it and sought for a place he could potentially hide. But what he found instead were more entranced figures. Sensing his presence, they glared at him with the same red glow the others had.

_"Anomaly detected."_

The voices behind him told him he was still being chased. But now, he had about a dozen scattered about him. He tried quickly to pinpoint the best direction to flee, but it was too late. They were surrounding him.

_"Quarantine complete." _The zombie-like humans droned out. _"Engage correction command E1. Initiate biomerge sequence."_

What did that mean? Rend began to feel a strange sensation about him. To his compounding disbelief, the figures began to rise and levitate in the air. Data streams began to materialize as energy began to envelope their beings. But in this, Rend saw his chance. In the midst of their levitation act, he dashed and ducked under the ring they had made around him. From there, he dared not stop.

_"BIOMERGE."_

A shockwave sent Rend flying. Forcefully he was thrown across the ruined pavement. It knocked a bit of wind out of him, but he wasn't out for the count… not that easily. Regaining his footing, he glanced back from where he had came.

He stood aghast. Now, instead of twelve humans, there now stood twelve powerful-looking Galleons. He'd seen pictures of them before, but these one had glowing seams of what looked like raw energy coursing about their entire bodies. Within their dark black visors, a beam of red surged. Looking up at Rend now with their single eye, they lifted their guns.

Unbelievable horrors… did those humans just turn into these?

Outside, Rend was keeping a level head. Inside, he knew full well that he—was—in—trouble.


	4. Survival Instinct

**Chapter 4**

**Survival Instinct**

The shrill blast of gunshot split the air as Rend flew back around the corner of his apartment complex. He unsheathed the dagger at his side, although admittedly it would be ideal if the Galleons weren't that close to him. If he found himself stabbing them, chances were he wasn't in a good situation. Running through the streets would just make things into a never-ending pursuit, one of which he would tire quickly. That in mind, he ducked back into the razed complex that had been his home.

He jumped over the desk in the front lobby and tried to conceal himself. No doubt they had seen him enter, so he needed to come up with something fast before they found him. He found it hard to focus though, for his mind was whirling with questions. What had happened to these people? What was the strange phenomena that he just witnessed, and how was it connected to the destruction all around him? Most importantly, what was the sole cause of the events that were unfolding?

But mostly weighing on his mind was this: for whatever pandemonium that had been unleashed… for whatever had seized everyone like a drugged beast… how was it that he found himself to be an exception to the chaos? Why had he been spared? Why him?

Once again, he had to shove these things from his head. He looked under the desk for anything that resembled a gun. He needed something with range. The noise of the front door flying across the lobby informed him that his new friends were closing in. Unless they neglected to check the desk, he could easily become a singed carcass in a matter of seconds.

The north hall could be reached rather easily from his position. Of course, running through a straight corridor would make him into an easy target. Maybe if he swerved into the ruined rooms, moving from cover to cover, he could make it without being turned into a butchered piece of Swiss cheese.

His options were few; he had to try. Bursting from his position, he shot down the hall. As to be expected, the Galleons took notice immediately. Continuing pursuit, they darted after him with guns blazing. Rend kept crisscrossing from room to room, but the Galleons were coming directly at him, and he was losing ground. Yet if he could get to the corner and make his way up the stairs, he could potentially lose them. Scaling the deteriorating building was not the ideal situation, but if he could get them off his tracks, he could eventually get out of the building. What further troubles lay beyond that were not important right now.

With one last sprint, he took off down the hall. The stairs were in sight. If he could parry what gunshot was left, he stood a fighting chance. He wasn't going to die. Not today.

But then he stopped short. Just as he was making the last bit of distance, another figure stepped out in front about twenty feet away. It was another human, one of which he was sure would block his progress. Then, at his side, he watched as he lifted to his shoulder what appeared to be a massive gun.

"Move."

Rend couldn't explain why, but instinct decided to take over. He threw himself to the ground. As he hit the floor, he heard an explosive noise. He glanced up just in time to observe a large rocket fly straight over his head. Seconds later, a tremendous force shook the surrounding area. Rend got to his feet and looked behind him. He didn't see Galleons, but rather a massive pile of rubble blocking the hall.

"One rocket. That's all I've ever needed and all I ever will."

Rend turned to face his rescuer. He was an older gentlemen, sporting a black outfit with gray gloves and boots. His grayish hair hung over one of his violet eyes. There was a definitive sense of dignity about him. His face resembled something of a rock.

Rend cleared his throat. "Hey… thanks." Rend waited for a response, but got none as the man threw the rocket launcher to the ground and pulled out a different gun, checking it over. "The name's Rend."

"Vex." The man replied shortly, but then glanced up at him. "Also known as the codger next door."

So THAT'S who this was. The veteran no one had ever seen. Figured that he chose now to join the party. "So then…" Rend started, getting down to business, "You wouldn't happen to have any idea what's going on, would you?"

"No solid evidence to back much of anything yet. I couldn't say." He paused. "I am curious to know why you aren't one of those repli-zombie freaks by now."

Rend sensed the apprehension in his voice; perhaps he viewed Rend as a potential threat. Unwavering, Rend gave his reply. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Hmph." Disregarding the question, he took a quick survey of the structure around them. "This place isn't going to be left standing too much longer, and I'm pretty that missile didn't help things in that respect. I'm getting out of here."

"Hey!" Vex went to leave but Rend had other ideas. He wasn't about to let the only other normal human he'd seen just abandon him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Away from here. I need to set up camp somewhere that isn't crawling with those morphed monsters."

"But what about—"

Again, Rend cut himself off. He listened carefully and, though there was not much to hear, his ear caught what he'd been looking for. "Do you… hear that?"

Vex remained rigid, only swiveling his head. "That moaning? Yeah."

Rend began to cautiously step towards the noise. It seemed to be coming from two doors down. "May I?"

Nodding somewhat reluctantly, Vex threw him his pistol. Approaching with careful steps, he came as close to the edge as he could. With one swift motion, he stood in the doorframe with gun ready. He was greeted with an unwelcome sight.

"Ghar!"

He rushed to his friend's side. His breathing was strained, and blood was soaking his attire from a concealed wound. "R-Rend…? I… ugh…"

Merely talking caused him to lose consciousness. As Rend lifted him from his place, Vex casually walked into the opening of the door.

"Like I said, I'm not sticking around."

Rend gave him an irritated and disgruntled look. "Well about him? You just going to leave him? I thought you were a war hero, not a ruthless mercenary."

"This whole world, boy, has been turned on its hinges. For all I know, you two could turn into my foes in a matter of seconds." Vex averted his gaze. "But I won't stop you from following me, so if you're coming, keep up."

Vex began to briskly walk away. Taking care not to injure Ghar and with no help from his new "ally", he followed behind.


	5. Twisted Tale

**Chapter 5**

**Twisted Tale**

Night was falling, and yet darkness was not an ally to be relied on… at least not at this point. There was no telling what madness lay in wait. Rend and Vex were prepared for a long night.

Rend's eyes were intently watching Ghar. For what it was worth, he seemed to be lacking in any serious wounds. He had managed to locate the injury that had dyed his clothes crimson, and had wrapped it up. Vex simply stood in front of the fire he had made, his eyes flitting back and forth to detect any threats. Nestled deep within a ruin-filled building that had managed to maintain ample structural integrity, hopefully they could avoid detection.

Rend stood and took in the desolation that surrounded them. They had been about for approximately an hour before finding their current shelter and, at least for Rend, enough had been taken in for one night. The wave of destruction had ripped through the metropolis like a powerful shockwave. Machines spitting sparks at all passer-bys... once tall skyscrapers demoted into rubble blankets spreading across several blocks... the more distance they had covered, the greater the realization was of the chaos that had unfolded. Navigating the torn landscape was one thing, but trying to keep sense of sanity alive was another. Many questions had surfaced, but nearly none had any answers. But if anything, just one answer to one question would have been enough...

Just why?

Rend could only sigh. Content to leave Ghar in his current state, Rend began to walk towards the veteran. Vex's stance remained unwavering, but he began to speak.

"So what's your story?"

Rend shrugged. "I'm not sure I have one. I just woke up this morning and found the world in complete pandemonium. Not much else I can say. I stepped outside, those… things… attacked me, and that's when you came along." Pausing, Rend searched for a response in the army vet, but found none. "Well… how 'bout you? You seemed pretty prepared when I met up with you. Most people don't keep a rocket launcher in their closet, anyway. Perhaps that's just in your nature."

Vex grunted. "You learn something after you go through war: peace is a figment of your imagination. Shadows consume at every turn, boy."

Rend shook his head. "And I thought I had a pessimistic outlook."

"You're nothing but an inexperienced juvenile. Don't forget that when staring down the barrel of one of those monstrosities. It may just save your life."

"Anyway…" Vex tossed some fuel on the fire. "Nothing surprises me much anymore, though I can't say I was expecting this… insanity. Then again, with all this technology and the resulting information highway it creates, there happens to be a reason I distance myself from it."

"It was certainly unlike anything I've ever seen before. It was about 0100 hours when I heard it start. There was a strange noise from outside my door. I took a glance out to find the apartment denizens walking about like an army of zombies, due northwest. They seemed to be heading in a particular direction. I decided to keep my head low until they cleared out. But it wasn't even half-an-hour later and there was an unreal uproar in progress. Some humans began to transform, and proceeded to make their own exits out of the building, blazing it to pieces. To think that something could be devised to make them do such a thing…"

"Well?" Rend questioned. "What do you think caused all this?"

Vex, void of expression, reaching into his jacket and pulled out a tube of purplish liquid. Rend gave it a curious stare. "What's that?"

"It's a blood sample I took from your friend."

When did he do that, and how did he do it without him knowing? Again, questions not worth his mind's time. "Continue."

"I've analyzed this sample with some of my equipment. There is a strange cybernetic pathogen within his bloodstream. It doesn't appear to have reached full maturity, however. The question is… where did it come from?"

"Wait… cybernetic pathogen? You mean like a virus?" Rend's eyes scrunched. "You don't think… is it the Z-Virus?"

Vex finally showed emotion, albeit surprise. "I'm sorry?"

"You're joking, right? The Z-Virus… it's only the newest threat everyone's been talking about."

"I don't see a lot of everyone these days."

"Yeah, I gathered. Anyway, apparently it does hostile things to the bioframe. It messes with system functions and whatnot, though I'm not privy to the minute details. Biolife claimed its current danger as minimal, but—"

"And you believed them? Corporations say anything and everything without so much as a second thought. Giving them your trust is a waste of it."

"That means little coming from the guy who doesn't know how to trust anyone."

"Well aren't you the little judge."

Rend gave him a spiteful eye. "I'm not some little runt for you to pull about. I may only be eighteen, but I've been through a lot for my age."

"And I'm in my mid-thirties, almost twice your age, so by my book you're just a naïve brat who thinks he knows what he's talking about. Of course, you were the one who decided to follow me."

"…as opposed to what?"

"Just… never mind." Vex sighed. Taking a deep breath, he spoke once more. "Look, if we have to work together, we'd best stop our bickering. I won't have any of it."

As if it was all Rend's fault, but Rend knew arguing with the brash veteran was going to go nowhere. At a time like this, any ally that would watch his back would be indispensible. "Whatever."

"We need to prepare ourselves. We know little about what we're up against and even less about how to properly combat it. We're in for a rough ride, and believe me when I call that an understatement."

Rend wasn't one to typically lose his calm composure, but the statement was a true and an unsettling one at that. After all, how often do you wake up to a world turned upside-down? More or less, it felt like it had been done so multiple times. He felt like he'd been dropped into an alternate reality crafted by a child… a child whose nightmares spawned from too many horror films. Was there any other proper way of describing it? And yet even this was beyond an apocalypse horror story, because THIS was actually happening.

So how Vex could react so completely level was nearly alien to him, because no matter how many times the insanity crossed his mind, it didn't change things. Again and again, he took it in and it still filled him with jarring shock.

Just why?

At the very least, it meant Vex was thinking relatively straight, and of course that didn't hurt.

"We need to formulate a plan of action."

Rend nodded. "It wouldn't hurt to air on the side of caution-"

Immediately Vex cut him off. "We can't sit here and wait to die. That's what will happen if we play this too reserved. We need to strengthen our firepower and make sure we don't swallow more recklessness than we can chew."

"Well, you seem to have a handle on things." Rend remarked sarcastically. "What ideas do you have then?"

"I know of some military installments, many of which I've been stationed at. The problem is… there seems to be a method to the madness." Rend now noticed the first tinge of uneasiness in Vex's voice, even if it was fleeting. "If someone's pulling strings, I doubt those places will be unguarded. After all, bioweapons like this don't just emerge out of nowhere. I have a different target in mind. You know of the museum on Aon Street?"

"Vaguely."

"There are some rooms filled with firearms in the museum. They're relics compared to what we have now, but they're our best shot at getting some force to back us up. I doubt it'll be very protected, so we should be able to slip in with relative ease. Whatever we can get our hands on will help."

Rend mulled the plan over in his head. "What about other people? Should we try to find more survivors and form a resistance?"

"I don't trust other people at this point. It could only be a matter of time before they too become enslaved to this... virus-thing. We need to worry about ourselves. As for your friend…" Vex gazed over at the injured Ghar. "We'll leave him here for now. We don't have much other choice. Maybe we'll find something of use at the museum, though I wouldn't count on it. You'd best worry about saving your own skin."

"Like you?"

Vex was growing tired of Rend's remarks. "Look, you're the one who followed me here like a lost pup. You want me to cover your face? Then learn how to shut up." The scorn of an older gentleman permeated his eyes. "I say that in a way you can understand, kid?"

Under normal circumstances, Vex probably could've warded off a rebellious young teen. But Rend was not one to back down. "The world has been thrown into chaos, and all you can think about is your own survival. You expect me to applaud that? Maybe you haven't noticed what been happening to people over the last few hours, or what's more likely is that you just don't give a scrap. Do you even care a shred about trying to save them?"

Unhindered, Vex replied. "I can't help this world if I'm dead, boy."

"And that's your excuse. Unbelievable..."

Vex loaded a clip into his gun and began to walk off. "Either you're coming or not. Choose."

Rend looked at the military veteran, then back at his friend. Giving a distasteful sigh, he pulled out the gun that Vex had given him. "Let's get on with it then."


	6. Foundations of the Present

**Chapter 6**

**Foundations of the Present**

It was a strange sight. Normally, various lighted signs would create something reminiscent of kindergartner's schoolroom painting. Instead, the familiar neon splash of unrestrained glee was replaced with a cold, desolate darkness. Clouds covered the sky, blotting out starlight. The moon, only half-full, in vain tried to pierce the black.

At least it was better than walking in the blast of the full-moon. Either way, the "humanoids" probably had all manner of sensors and advanced vision for seeing any midnight wanderers.

"Humanoids" was the term Vex had given to the transformed humans. It seemed to Rend like Vex was now completely attuned to the situation at hand. Truthfully, Rend was having a hard time keeping up, both mentally and physically. Despite his upbringing, he'd never had much of a chance to put it into practice. To Vex, it was all natural, which was no doubt why he was doing the leading. Of course, Rend still wasn't very fond of him.

Fortunately, there destination was getting near. Vex signaled for Rend to keep close. As they rounded another corner, Vex nodded. "There she is."

Rend strained his eyes in the dark, but suddenly Vex threw him back from where they had emerged. Moments later, a group of flying humanoids went howling by. Rend breathed out, as if he'd been holding it in for the last hour. "They have patrols everywhere."

"Which is why you need to stop loitering about like a confused toddler."

Ignoring the remark, Rend continued. "What in blazes do you think they're after?"

"I guess whoever's running the show doesn't like rebellious lab rats." The next remark contained a touch of superiority. "Watch your step."

With that, he signaled them forward. They darted across the street, paying heed not to attract the attention of any patrols that were in the near vicinity. Any blot of red light anywhere was simply bad news. But things held out for them.

The museum building looked rather ordinary in comparison to everything else, but that was to be expected in such a cramped metropolis. Rend was merely happy to get away from the tension of the streets. Wasting no time, Vex slipped through the door, gun ready. Rend was close on his heels, ready to fire his firearm if he really had to; he was more ready to pull out his dagger if things got tight. Fortunately, there didn't appear to be any surprises waiting inside.

Rend relaxed slightly as he looked around. He'd never been to a museum before, and to be honest, he couldn't say he was that impressed. It looked like something of a run-down factory. The architecture reflected that of a century-old building, and it looked sloppy rather than historically revered. The "vintage" displays that were there in the main hall did little to interest him.

Rend scoffed. "Is this supposed to impress me?"

"Stay focused, boy."

Vex began to make his way down the corridor, aware of where he wanted to go. Rend simply followed behind. As he glanced from side to side, he noticed how simplistic the technology looked compared to what they had now. Could the people of a century ago really protect themselves with these? Even their guns looked fragile compared to what Vex and he were carrying now.

But then again, Rend didn't consider simplicity a bad thing. Unlike the hardened Vex who had a rocket launcher stashed in his closet, Rend was quite content to carry nothing more than his dagger. That was because the dagger carried a little history of its own…

* * *

"So you like it?"

"Of course I do!"

A ten-year-old Rend fingered the inactive hilt of a dagger in his hands; a gift from his older sister. "Sis, I'm so glad you're doing better. It's good to have you home again!"

The older female threw a glance to side, trying not to let on to the fact that her injury was more complicated than that. "I'm glad to be home too."

"I've missed you. It hasn't been very bright around here without you. But now that you're here, things can go back to normal…" Rend looked up with searching eyes, strands of his white hair falling over his forehead. "Right?"

"Yes, of course. Normal…" She kneeled beside him, a genuine hope in her gaze. "You can bet it will be. I'll make sure of it."

"Yeah! You can do anything…" Rend smiled, but then became distracted by his present. "So how do I turn it on?" He began to fidget with it. Suddenly, his sister became unexpectedly alarmed.

"Whoa, wait!"

"Wh-what?"

She sighed, shaking her head. "You… you can't just turn that thing on for the heck of it. You have to be…" She paused. "Careful with such tools."

"Sis?"

Something was obviously on her mind, but she continued to speak anyway. "Rend, if you want to keep this, then you have to promise me something."

"Sure!" He blurted out, no hesitation.

"It's not as simple as you think… then again, I guess it is. Look, here it is." She took a deep breath. "What you hold is a dagger. It's a very powerful thing, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah!" Rend began to swing it about, regardless of the fact that it wasn't on. Yet his sister stopped him.

"No, that's not right."

"Huh?"

"It's powerful… because you wield it. It is useful… because you know how to use it. It's special… because of the one who holds it in their hands."

Rend's eyes were locked on his sister, as if entranced. She looked up wistfully. "I want you to have the chance to be someone. Not because you have the biggest gun or the most advanced technology that this world has for you. But because… because you are Rend."

Rend put his free hand to his chest. "I… I am Rend."

"You aren't Rend because you are the greatest hero alive. But you can be the greatest hero alive… if you just be Rend. Because if you aren't… you can't truly be a hero. Power, money… none of that truly makes a difference when it comes down to saving those you lov—"

She turned away, but Rend saw tears coming to her eyes. She stepped away for a moment, but Rend persisted. "Sis?"

She looked back, thankfully with a relieved smile. "Rend, this is more than just a gift; it's a responsibility. When you turn that on, I don't want you to become that tool's servant. I want you to let the tool become yours. Once you start down a new road in your life, don't let other things shape you into who you aren't. Take a chance, but be ready to fight. In the wake of everything that comes, become the man you are meant to be. I want you to take this…" She clasped his hands in hers. "And I want you to have a chance at letting the world see the inner hero that lies." Nodding, she moved his small hand over the power switch, looking at him as if it was the first time she'd seen him in years. "Promise?"

* * *

Rend had never forgotten that day. There had been something special about taking the dagger in hand and using it for the first time under the caring eyes of his sister. Yes, it appeared to be nothing more than a simple dagger, but despite all that, it was one of the most important things he possessed.

It was as if a part of his sister was imbued in it, and every time he used it she was there with him. And with that in mind, it was all he needed.

"You're absolutely hopeless."

Rend gazed up to see Vex staring at him with utmost frustration. Apparently Rend had zoned out. "We're facing the end of society as we know it and you're staring at the ceiling like it's inscribed with the meaning of life."

Rend went to respond, but Vex simply turned around and began to walk again. Rend, given their previous interactions, decided it best just to move on. "So then…" He glanced around, taking notice of more displays filled with strange gadgets and rusting firearms. "You really think there's some firepower in here that we can use?"

"I should think so."

"What about ammunition?" Rend continued. "Where will we find…"

"We're not here for that kind of weaponry. I didn't come all the way across this death-riddled landscape to pick up some corroded tin barrel that will stop working after three shots." Vex came to a halt. They had stopped before a large door that lead into another room. "We came here for this." Pressing his hand across the door, he pushed it back.

Rend was greeted with the sights of a long, studious history. The room was filled with old gear, but not just any ordinary kind. Rend saw the resemblance to his own apparel immediately; it was lined with bioframe technology.

It was practically a timeline of the tech's development. Stepping ahead of Vex, Rend's eyes scanned the different models. Some of them were ancient-looking compared to what they had now, and some of them were nothing more than chest plates. Yet they were more impressive to him than the rest of the museum's artifacts combined. Rend took a second to look over the red bioframe that his body housed. As he moved along the displays, he came to what appeared to be a more advanced looking prototype. From what he could tell, it was the most recent model. For whatever reason, he felt compelled to reach out and touch it.

Suddenly he jumped. He was about to whip out his dagger, but managed to take back his composure. What had startled him? In front of him above the display, something had flickered on in response to his presence. A dull glow outlined the frame of a large flat screen.

Rend watched curiously as something came into view. Growing larger on the screen, a symbol with the letters B and L merged together came into view, a slim yellow ring encircling it; the Biolife emblem. Following that, a voice became audible.

"Biolife…" Said the television, the voice sounding ordinary and simple. "Your ally in the ongoing endeavor to better humanity's and reploid-kind's well-being."

"Many look upon these times with grief and anxiety. With levels of radiation increasing by the year, it has been questioned whether we can survive through such dark times." Scenes of wastelands, not unlike what was now outside, flitted across the screen. Grim music hummed in accompaniment. But then in view came the headquarters of Biolife, along with a building tune. "But due to the undying spirit of resolve, Biolife has fought alongside civilization to bring a new era of peace and stability. Utilizing the revolutionary technology known as Bioframes and Bionet, humans and reploids live in prosperous utopias brimming with life in spite of recent disaster. Indeed, our world has seen its share of unfortunate turns, but we have not given up hope."

As Rend continued to watch, a reploid appeared on the screen. He was tall with yellow plating. It covered his chest, shoulders, hands, and legs, and around his head it formed a cylindrical helmet. Large purple gem-like objects were nested with these armored pieces of equipment, a single one to each separate part. His synthetic body was strong and bulky, and his face had a calm demeanor. Hints of brown hair could be seen under his helmet. The figure began to speak with a tone that proclaimed authoritative thrust, all the while raising a gripping fist as if in victory.

"We here at Biolife will never stop fighting for a better tomorrow. No matter how far we come, we will keep moving. All of us here are dedicated to the ideal of a bright, utopian future… and we will stop at nothing to see that dream come to reality. People of earth," The figure moved his hand over where figuratively his heart would be. "On this I give you my word."

The other voice then picked back up as myriad scenes of Biolife facilities and technology came into view. "Whether it's securing the safety of the next generation or promoting the advance of technology, Biolife is dedicated to the cause. Biolife: Your ally for the future!"

A fanfare sounded as the informational video drew to a close. Abruptly, a screen of mild static took its place.

Rend didn't move. He waited a few more moments before looking back at the Bioframe he originally had been looking at. "To think, we've come so far…" He sighed. "Only because we fell so far."

"Whoever said we stopped falling?"

Rend was surprised to find Vex standing adjacent to him, almost on top of him. "You heard what they said. The people were in a state of despair. Fortunately someone stepped up to the plate, but ultimately they all went back to being complacent and comfortable. If something was wrong, who knew about it? Hmph," Vex's piercing eyes bored into Rend. "But why are we complaining… look at all the progress we've made."

There was an unsettling pause, or at least it felt that way. Vex gave another loud breath. "Shocking, isn't it? After all they talk about and they don't even mention the source of their brilliant success."

Rend's head turned toward the veteran as he walked over to another exhibit. "What do you mean by that?"

"This."

"Hm?" Rend made his way over to Vex's side. "You mean…" Myriad bizarre looking items laid before him atop pedestals. He definitely hadn't seen things like these before. "These are…?"

"Biometal."

Rend had the wonder of a child in his eye, while Vex merely gave him a demeaning look. "Biometal is what made all of this possible. The whole Bioframe-Bionet system is based off of its technology… the technology of the original models of long gone heros."

"And we're going to be using those… old biometals?"

"Heh, I wish." Vex shot him another scornful glare. "Those are one of a kind. If anyone knew where they were, they sure as heck wouldn't be sitting in a run-down museum. Now, we have generic biometals that have been invented to run with most bioframes. They may not pack the same punch and many of them don't even possess any kind of sentience like the ancient ones, but I'll risk saying that these will do us some good."

In his true nonchalant style, Vex jumped over the railing and began whipping biometal in every direction as he took inventory of the models before him. Rend wanted to join him but Vex was flying through them faster than he could get to them; he apparently knew what he was looking for. Rend was about to give it a shot anyway when one of the objects smacked him in the head. "Hey! Will you watch what you're…"

He trailed off as instead his attention turned to what had hit him. He reached down and grabbed it, raising it to eye level to glance it over. The main frame of it was a darker purple with a slim white facemask in the front and red extending to the top. "Wonder if this is any good."

If he recalled correctly, there was a port on the upper side of the bioframe's right gauntlet. He quickly moved to try it out, but caught himself. He'd never so much as seen a biometal before, so why was he sticking it into his system with such a lack of caution? Looking back at the bioframe below the television screen, he decided to try it on something else first.

Rend swiftly ran back over and checked to see if the bioframe on display was operational. He was happy to find it merely in a state of hibernation; booting up a bioframe for the first time was tedious work, or so he'd heard. This wasn't the time to find out either. Pressing a few buttons, the suit-like apparatus came to. Anxious to see what would come of this new toy, Rend reached for the right gauntlet, removed the covering from the port, and with all haste pressed the biometal down with great firmness.

"Ridiculous." Vex began, tossing more biometal to the ground. "What's here is either junk or cheap imitations. I was hoping for a better turnout than—what are you doing?"

Rend barely budged, intently watching the suit for any sign of activity. "What? Oh, I was trying out this biometal." After a few more seconds, he frowned in disappointment. The idea of biometal had grabbed his attention, but it was not meeting his expectations. "Hm… it looks nice, but it isn't much." Rend rolled his eyes in distaste. "That figures."

"Idiot." Shaking his head, the army vet's head tilted down and somewhat concealed his annoyance. "I could've told you that. That's supposed to be Model P, one of the ancient biometals."

"What?" Rend's heart practically skipped a beat. "But you—"

"I said supposed. That's just a cheap imitation that someone made for the museum. Display only." Vex stared at the biometal littered on the floor and then back at the young male. "Seriously boy, you've done nothing but make a fool of yourself all night. And now you're trying to make some cheap piece of trash work unnatural wonders for—"

To both of their shock, a small but jarring tremor interrupted Vex. It was over just as quickly as it had come, but it did leave the two in state of suspense. Vex readied his gun, expecting all manner of robotic terrors to suddenly pop out of nowhere, but instead something much different happened.

The bioframe was now whirring with life, but this was different. Suddenly, slim lights formed a pattern on the floor before them. Shaking once more, pieces of the floor began to lower down. Slowly but surely, they formed into a descending staircase leading into the unknown.

Rend was speechless, but Vex was the one to speak out of his typical character. "Didn't see that coming."


	7. Shadow Kept Secrets

**Chapter 7**

**Shadow-Kept Secrets**

Uncertainty having full reign, Rend and Vex had crept down the staircase. They found themselves in a poorly-lit corridor made of cement. It was dank and nearly void of technology, a rare and somehow unnerving sight. Looking forward, Rend noticed the hall jut to the right. That meant if anything unknown was sitting beyond that corner, they wouldn't know about it until they were in its sight.

But of course, unhindered, Vex began to slide forward, taking care not to make much noise with his feet. Rend wanted to reach out and force him back, but he knew how much good that would do him, so he followed a safe distance behind. He was sort of embarrassed at his lack of bravery in comparison to the vet, but he technically he couldn't be at fault for not having the experience that came with the turf.

Vex swung out and surveyed the next segment of the hall; Rend hoped desperately that the next second wouldn't find bullets piercing the air. But Vex signaled Rend forward, and the two continued down the currently silent passage. Speech was a luxury they could not afford, for if anything else was down there, they didn't want it getting premature wind of their presence.

The passageway seemed to wind on forever, as if it was consciously trying to build up anxiety. Both of them were on edge. Ominous tunnels like these didn't just simply exist. It wasn't a matter of if something was down there, but a matter of what and where.

Rounding another corner, Rend suddenly found Vex's hand forcing him to a halt. Anxious anticipation alone nearly thrust Rend against the cold wall behind him. But taking a moment to look, he noticed quickly what Vex saw. Down the hall as the light began to increase was a light blue mechanic door. Vex once again pressed forward. Whatever they were down there for was probably behind that door; if only they had an inkling as to what to expect. They could be walking into a premature death… or worse. Given the wild circumstances of the past twenty-four hours, nearly everything felt left to the imagination.

Though the door itself was unlikely to rear up and attack them, they approached cautiously. Coming up upon it, Vex took notice of a small keypad to his right.

He eyed it for a few seconds, then the door, and finally began to tinker with his bioframe, almost casually. "Someone's keeping secrets."

Rend found piercing the fragile silence with such unnecessary words to be irritating. "Ya' think?"

Vex covered the keypad with his right hand while watching the information display on his left gauntlet. After about fifteen seconds, Vex's fngers began to shoot across the keypad.

_"Access Code Verified. Clearance granted."_

Rend's annoyance quickly turned to surprise. "Wow. Nice work."

However, Vex's left hand raised to silence him, although Vex made one more statement anyway. "I know."

Rend took a ready stance, prepared to fire at anything that looked even remotely dangerous. Vex was already in position, and slowly he reached down to press the fateful button that would open the door. It seemed to Rend like Vex's finger was nearly frozen in time as it moved down toward the keypad.

But then time took the wind out of Rend as the doors hastily flew open. Trying to fight off the startling wake-up, he flung his pistol into the air.

To his reprieve, nothing stood to shoot them down. Inside, Rend felt a rush of relief, though he didn't let on to it, because it would only serve to catch him more flak from Vex. Regardless, he was elated to have the tension sliced, even if only for a few moments.

Stepping forward without hesitation, Vex scanned the room from left to right, checking for any hidden threats. He thoroughly checked to make certain of the situation, and finally he spoke to his apprehensive ally. "We're clear… for now."

Rend slipped into the room, letting the doors behind him shut as abruptly as they had opened. The room seemed to glow blue, though the lights on the ceiling were nothing of the sort. Computer monitors brimming with data and counters littered sporadically with tools made the bizarre scene. And then at the far side of the room, canisters lined the top of a storage unit, their contents unknown.

"It's… a laboratory."

Vex confirmed his suspicion. "It gets more interesting…" He stopped momentarily, nodding confidently. "It's a biometal lab. Take a look."

Vex lead him over to the canisters, and up close the canister insides became more identifiable. Various metallic objects of diverse color, shape, and size filled the experimental containers, suspended by a cyan-colored scientific liquid. Rend easily noticed the resemblance between what sat in front of him and what had been in the museum. "What are they doing with them?"

"Can't say for sure." Vex lifted one up to note its type and usefulness. Apparently he was still interested in stocking up on firepower.

"Furthermore, why on earth is it here?"

"For whom and for what purposes, I don't know. But think about it. It's location is stunningly genius." Vex turned his head. "Every time the museum gets a new biometal, whoever runs this place could easily smuggle it down here if it's of any use and replace it with a phony. That, and it's a secret lab, so people would want one where you least expect it."

Vex put the container back in its place. "Still…" Rend noted Vex was trying to hide the hint of uncertainty in his voice. "This just keeps getting stranger. I'd also wager to guess this place might have some clues as to what's going on up top."

Rend nodded. "Then let's check the computers."

"Yeah. That's smart."

For once Vex gave him a compliment, however minimal. But Rend wasn't even remotely concerned with that, and joined the veteran over by one of the monitors. "Where do we start?"

"Hopefully we can find something detailing the Z-Virus. Not only would it be an incredibly useful boon, but it would potentially confirm this place as being connected to it."

Vex began to fool with every conceivable item on the monitor screen. Rend was relatively impressed that someone like him seemed to know his technology inside and out, and it made Rend feel sort of inept. The veteran seemed more talented in just about everything. After a few minutes, Vex snapped his fingers.

"Bulls-eye."

On the screen, Vex clicked open a file entitled "Z-Virus: Final Version." Vex smiled, for it was exactly what he had wanted to find. With anticipating eyes, Rend watched as a wall of text flooded the screen:

"Z-Virus: Synopsis Report 73

"Final configuration of the virus is complete. Although the testing and experimental phase has dragged on for months, the final version of the virus is complete. All bugs that have been identified have been resolved. The virus, according to our observations, should work to perfection.

"In its final state, the virus should merge with the bloodstream of its human target and eventually seize control of the main CPU of the host's bioframe. Once it does this, it can render the host into a state of semi-unconscious autonomy, and put them in standby for further instructions from our command modules.

"The mass production of the virus is our only obstacle. The virus particle is incredibly fragile until it is completed. Although the virus can safely replicate itself, it can only do that after merging with blood cells of relatively healthy humans. We have, for the time, managed to complete a set large enough to infect a moderate city, but this did not come without spending painstaking days and weeks assembling the original virus components. Fortunately, we were able to secure a relatively large work force that we were able to dispose of following completion of that phase.

"Now all that is left to do is distribute the virus to its first subjects. Once this is done, we will observe the initial effects and plan for the next phase. Though we have extensively insured the virus as foolproof, the extent of its power is still questionable. Patience will be necessary as we properly assess the situation and plan towards moving past this phase.

"As for right now, we will continue on schedule. We are pleased with our current situation and success. For details on the distribution method, check file H367."

Rend couldn't bring himself to read anymore. He was sweating in grave horror. He wasn't so much fearful as was in a state of total shock.

"It… it takes over its host?"

Vex said nothing. His face, however, portrayed the same seriousness. Rend gripped his head, almost feeling like he might vomit. "Vex, it puts people under mind-control… it just takes them completely over! This is insane!"

Vex lowered his head. He then said something Rend didn't want to hear. "I think we may be in a little over our heads…"

"Vex, what're we going to do? It's not like we have any idea on how to make this thing stop. And we can't just go up there and start blowing our people's brains out! But we're practically sitting ducks! Isn't there something we can do? Stop it from spreading? Firewalls or… something, and—"

"Hey!" Rend received a brute hit to the back of the head. "Will you get a grip? Look." Vex pointed back up at the screen. "This file… it has some related files." He pointed to the side of the screen where another list had formed. "And that… take a look at that."

Rend had not taken notice of it before, but there appeared to be a side note that he had not noticed before, pertaining to the statement of bugs. It was titled "Mysterious Glitch". Vex couldn't open it fast enough for Rend's tastes. Selecting it, the file opened alongside the other and Rend's eyes tore into it as if it was a novel:

"We have, indeed, for the most part cleaned up most bugs. However, there is one inexplicable exception that we cannot get around. Although unbelievably rare, there has been an instance where the virus assimilates into the blood but its primary programming goes dormant. It still carries on normal functions, but without its primary coding taking effect, it only serves to give the host a strength boost. We are absolutely at a loss for a comprehensible explanation.

"There is one hypothesis, however, that has become accepted among our ranks. It is believed that because of certain genetic traits, that certain humans may—"

He didn't finish, because something new had reached his ear. Rend flung around at the presence of a new sound. Right across the room, an unnoticed door had opened, and in walked a new figure.


	8. Against the Gears

**Chapter 8**

**Against the Gears**

It was an unwelcome and unexpected surprise to Rend and Vex. And at that, it probably was to the lab figure as well, as he didn't seem to notice them. He was lost in some reports that he was carrying, mumbling to himself incoherently. He then looked up to find something on the counter in front of him, but then stopped short as the two humans came into his view.

The three stared at each other as if everyone in the room had two unsightly heads. Rend noted an orange triangle on the man's forehead, the sign that he was a reploid. He was a bit taller than the two of them, sporting a yellow trenchcoat, white pants underneath that, and a white bioframe. His hair was a vibrant orange that spiked out in front of his forehead.

The reploid took one more short glance at both of them and began to speak coarsely. "Who the heck are you loons?"

"Visitors. Now I know visiting hours are probably over, but…" Vex cocked his gun, aiming straight at the reploid's forehead. It only served to make the reploid give a brief laugh.

"If you intend to hurt me with that, have fun." He paused, assessing the two intruders before him. "You both… are humans. How did in all that's sane did you get down here? And why in blazes aren't you under the virus's control?"

"Sorry to disappoint you."

"Heh. Guess some slipped through the cracks. Not that it matters, though I must say you aren't made of ordinary spit if you've survived thus far. But spit is still just that." The reploid quickly revealed his own firearm, one that looked far more impressive and deadly than Vex's.

"Just who are you?" Rend exclaimed, spouting off without hardly thinking. Furor was starting to take hold as Rend yelled at the newcomer. "And just what are you trying—hey!"

Vex's eyes shifted only slightly towards Rend. "What?"

"Right there! On the left side of his coat!"

There in plain view, a familiar emblem—two letters in a ring—could be seen. "I see my reputation precedes me. Very well," Seemingly out of nowhere, the figure whipped out a blazing energy sword of fuchsia hue. "I am Biolife officer Nova, and I guarantee you that I have more rank and caliber then both of you whelps combined." He spoke with condescension, something Rend was far tired of by now. "Surrender now, and perhaps your death won't come as quickly."

"So it's true then, isn't it?" Vex began, calmly as he kept his gun up. "Hmph… I knew it. Biolife's behind everything."

Despite the kill-ready reploid, Rend couldn't help but turn towards Vex with a look of astonishment. As for Nova, he was unwavering and merely shook his head.

"You pegged all that from an emblem on my coat? I could be an underground conspirator… a rebel officer… anything. How can you be so sure?"

"Don't feed me your ludicrous banter. This whole catastrophe has the organization written all over its ugly face. The resources by which to build secret facilities like this… control of the Bionet system… means by which to construct such a virus… Biolife is lacking in no such avenue. But go ahead and tell me I'm wrong."

Vex stated his case with clear-cut precision, but Rend was still reeling with confusion. The Z-Virus… Biolife Corporations… it was all weaved together? What manner of wicked scheme was being hatched? It had never crossed Rend's mind that Biolife—the pinnacle of civilization's safety—could be masterminding everything. They had always held the people's safety as their perfect ideal…

But now, just maybe, it sounded a little too perfect.

Nova was unwavering. "Even if we were behind everything, what would you do about it?"

"You shouldn't take it so lightly," Vex replied. "After all, the two of us have managed to outwit all of this so far."

"That's called getting disgustingly lucky. Hate to break it to you."

"Maybe, but on the other hand, we avoided contracting the Z-Virus, despite your apparent ability to shove it down most others' throats." Vex stopped; one could almost hear gears turning in his head. "So that was it."

Nova's left eyebrow furrowed upwards in intrigue. "Excuse me?"

"If Biolife is behind everything, then the whole vaccine rush was a hoax. There was never a vaccine. In fact, the vaccine was a farce; a farce by which you injected the Z-Virus into all the innocents. So in a manner of speaking, the vaccine was the Z-Virus." Vex's head tilted to the side as his own eyebrow mirrored the reploid's. "Wasn't it?"

Silence. It felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room, giving no one the ability to talk. Vex's grim face merely bored into the warped half-smile of the reploid. The two were tensely locked on each other in body and mind as the low hum of computers distorted the eerie quiet.

But it was a different story for Rend. His eyes were widened in sheer terror. If he was panicking, he probably wasn't hiding it very well. The Z-Virus and the vaccine… if what Vex said was indeed true, then that meant Rend had…

"You have quite the head there, army man." Nova remarked with a chuckle. His gaze turned to the uneasy teen besides him. "But even then, it's still far too late for you to do anything about it. And even if you don't have the virus, o militant master…" The reploid clicked something into place on his gun, and it began to emit a reddish-orange glow. Speaking with collection and resolve, his eyes still filled with a heated fire. Though he still had the same level smile from before, it was clear he was done with any more cordial chat. "I can change that real quick."

Gunshot rang out. Rend ducked to the floor as Vex swerved to side, missing the virus-infused shot by mere inches, it instead shattering a monitor behind. Glass sprinkled down onto Rend, making him shake chillingly as he felt the shards jump around on his backside.

But nothing having phased the veteran yet, Vex easily fired a clean shot in return. His shot, however, did not find a target in Nova. Instead, it hit a nearby gas pipe. It spewed forcefully with a thick gaseous fog, forcing Nova to waste time waving it from his vision. Then with one swift movement, Vex proceeded to take up one of the capsules and lob it at the reploid. Aiming his gun again, he fired another round.

The desired effect was reaped. The canister exploded and fire enshrouded the reploid. Although it did little damage, it was enough of a distraction for Vex, and he didn't waste one second of it. He viciously seized Rend by the collar and dragged him up. Rend was still trying to get his bearings about him as he watched the scene unfold. "How did you know that was explosive?"

"I didn't."

"Vex—"

"Shut up!" Vex brought them to another door and slammed his hand into the console. The door flew open, and he proceeded to literally throw Rend into the next room. He proceeded to offload one more well-aimed shot directly into the control panel, sending a small rain of sparks about as he jumped through the doorway and the door behind him erratically shut.

Rend finally managed to get his feet and stay balanced. It seemed for a moment like things had reached a calm, as if the new room was a safe zone, but that light feeling quickly evaporated. Fleeing the only sane thought in his mind, he quickly searched for another means of escape, but he quickly realized the wretched truth. The only means of exit was the same way they had come in. Gritting his teeth, he groaned. "What good did that do us?"

Vex was briskly pacing the room, seemingly unalarmed. "We're alive, aren't we?"

"So what? This was your plan? Stick ourselves in some—"

"By the guardians—if you utter one more word, I'll blaze you inside out before that psycho gets the chance!"

It was enough, given his current state, to shut him up. But what was one to do? Rend saw himself as a cornered rat who'd peeked his head into the wrong place. The room Vex and he were trapped in felt more like a jail cell then a lab room or, worse yet, a waiting room for those awaiting execution. He couldn't fathom what was worse: being marked by an insane killer reploid or the fearful suspense that seemed to choke the very air out of his lungs as he waited for his doom.

What possibly startled him most, however, was his own blank mind. He could muster no plan of action. No back-up route. No nothing. It was if his brain had completely given out on him. He had been reared better than this; certainly his sister would have not went so blank. But the more he tried, the more anguish reared its head. He didn't feel himself.

The world, so help him, didn't feel itself.

"Ha."

It wasn't more than a word, but Rend was hyper-sensitive to every tiny disturbance at that point. As he looked over, Vex was prying a piece of sheet metal away from the wall. "Right here. This lab has a waste chute for… whatever they have to dispose of. This should take us to the sewers."

"What about biohazards? Isn't that what they use it for?"

Vex also seemed to be growing sensitive, but rather to Rend's words. "So you'd rather have a shoot-out with Nova then, is that it?" Rend remained silent. "Of course not." Suddenly a profuse banging noise became audible on the other side of the door. With one more powerful movement, Vex ripped the metal from its place. "Move!"

As Vex prepared to make his descent, Rend certainly wasn't wasting anytime in following behind. But as Vex slipped his legs into the chute, Rend couldn't help but notice the machine in the center of the room. More canisters, filled with similar-looking fluids from before, lined its sides. For a split second, Rend concocted one last diversionary tactic. Hurriedly he began to rip the containers from their places and throw them violently at the door. Rend knew that this wouldn't serve to do much in injuring the reploid, but maybe the combined igniting force of several quarts of scientific drink would buy a little more time to escape and cover their tracks. Or maybe not; Rend wasn't sure, for at this point he felt on the brink of insanity.

Vex having long descended by now, Rend took up one more canister to throw on the heap. But the roar of hard metal bending suddenly jarred him, and the canister and its contents spilled to the ground below him. Rend's terrified eyes saw robotic fingers slowly forcing the door open before him. The ruse had to be executed now or his efforts would be rewarded with a singed cavity in his head. Shakily but swiftly, he took his firearm and offloaded three shots into the oozing liquid.

An explosion of arid heat smacked Rend as the puddle turned into a small raging inferno. Rend sighed, as it had worked better than he thought. But it was still a matter of time, so Rend knew it was time for his exit. "Hopefully Vex doesn't think I'm dead. He'd probably just as well take off without me."

Rend swerved around, ready to make for the chute, when his foot slid something across the floor. Looking down, he caught sight of the biometal that had been kept in the container he'd dropped. Seeing another instant of opportunity, he quickly swept it up, stuffed it in his coat, and leapt for the chute. Maybe their trip would serve to benefit them after all.

The fingers had disappeared from the door's opening immediately following the explosion. But a mere dozen seconds later, a ravishing blast practically mangled and destroyed the door, practically implanting it in the room's machine. Moments later, Nova flew through the wall of fire and emerged in the now dilapidated room.

Nova was, to the shame of his pride, dirtied up a bit. His trench coat was burned in a couple places, and blackened spots could be seen on his synthetic skin and his otherwise white outers. It was clear by the look on his face that he was anything but pleased. Regardless, his demeanor was still somewhat calm.

The reploid surveyed the damage before him. The door was a mess, there would probably be some fire and smoke damage, and then he caught sight of the exposed chute. He coolly walked over and peered down the blackness that led to the method of escape.

"Wily little runts." Nova remarked. "But they've overestimated their ability. They're merely delaying what's imminent. Even if their sending up the fireworks in the process…" Nova turned to face the scene of havoc his human visitors had caused. "There's no one to answer the distress call. That is, no one who can take a hit from our mighty corporate machine."

Nova sneered. "Foolish humans. You are hulls unaware that their life is gone. You have nothing."

His confidence restored, Nova began to input commands into his bioframe. "All units… Area 4H. Split, converge… yes. Find them, my cyborg toys. Rip them limb for limb. Utterly annihilate—"

The noise of cracking glass distracted Nova's attention downward. The remains of the broken canister lay at his feet. Making a mental note to assess damages later, he continued to leave.

But suddenly, he stopped. For a moment he was uneasy, but then shrugged. He laughed to himself, glancing at the machine to his right. Yet as he continued to look it over, as if searching for something specific, his face dimmed again. His gaze began to avert to random places in the room. "No… no, that's ridiculous. They…?"

He hesitated. But then he briskly went back over to the remnant of the shattered capsule on the floor. "That would be madness…" He looked at the pieces uncertainly at first, but then picked up the cracked top to the container. "Out of everything in this lab, there's no way that—"

The covering shattered on the floor as it slipped from his hands. The look in Nova's eyes were empty, filled with disbelief. Among the fragments on the floor, there were numbers and letters scattered about that indicated the identification of the canister and, ultimately, what it had held.

Then all at once, a wild fist found itself thrown into the badly scathed machinery, more sparks flying while Nova roared savagely.

He nearly broke his bioframe sending the next set of commands out to the army above. "Find them… find them NOW!"


	9. Sparks of Hope

**Chapter 9**

**Sparks of Hope**

Rend met up with Vex in the sewers with ease, despite the fact that Vex had, indeed, began to go off on his own again. After an unpleasant hour trek through the sewers, they finally decided it safe to emerge above ground.

Vex quietly displaced the sewer cover, staying alert on the chance that any humanoids were lingering in the vicinity. Quickly he hoisted himself up onto the ground, and proceeded to wait impatiently while Rend climbed up behind him.

Coughing, Rend grimaced. "Man, that was one trip I don't want to relive."

"That was paradise compared to what we have to deal with now." Vex once again assessed their surroundings. They appeared to be on a remote street somewhere near the middle of the city. "Someone knows we're out here, so you can bet your half-witted sense they'll be looking for us. We need to find a new base of operations that's more hidden."

"You considered that pile of ruin we were in a base?"

"That's exactly what makes me want to shoot you."

Because Rend half-doubted whether he was being sarcastic or not, he decided to keep quiet, which left him to relish in the delightful sewage odor his clothes had picked up. He began to brush himself off in an attempt to shake off the smell.

His hand came across a bulge in his coat. Remembering the spoil he'd picked up from the lab, the biometal was a pleasant distraction from the stench of his outfit. Removing it carefully, Rend removed his shades and was about to give the biometal a good look when Vex turned to face him again.

"We should head northeast, as I think—are you kidding me?"

"Huh?" Rend wasn't sure what he'd done this time, but he was sure Vex would give him the cruel rundown.

"Do you like your playthings, boy? Is that why you're still holding on to that cheap imitation biometal?"

"The what?" Rend quickly glanced over the biometal. To his surprise, it looked exactly like the one that had acted like a key in the museum: purple and red with a mask on it. "This? Wait, Vex… I found this in the—"

And just like that, Rend was back on the ground as Vex dove right into him, a blast of heat and a small tremor accompanying the fall. Danger was once again the name of the game. It felt like the norm at this point, but it was an irritating norm to Rend at that. It felt like habit.

He glanced up from his new spot on the ground to try and see what had happened this time. He could only see behind, as a large heap of junk metal lay in front of him. There was nothing at first, making him think that maybe Vex had finally made an error. He went to get up, but then in a startling fashion a flying galleon whipped around from the other side of their cover.

Rend yelled, half in panic and half in building frustration. But Vex, far from losing his sanity, quickly planted a shot into one of the galleon's jet wings. Losing its balance, it spiraled in an erratic fashion down to the ground. Leaping from his protection without hesitation, Vex was on top of it in an instant. Fully aware that there was most likely a human beneath the armor, he instead turned the galleon over forcefully and, before it had time to react, Vex planted a brutish fist into its visor. As the humanoid collapsed into a limp position, Vex jumped up.

Rend gripped his forehead. "Well. For once, it was easy..."

But his ears rang as the screeching wail of shots flew through the air. Vex had rose only to be greeted with more blasts of energy from more flying soldiers. Though Rend wasn't the one under fire (yet), it was another unwanted presence.

They just couldn't catch a break, and it didn't seem they would.

Vex swiftly sprinted to the side, firing off more rounds at the new enemy. Rend watched as Vex flirted with chaos, practically dancing about as he dodged the shower of energy projectiles. Finally, he ducked for cover around the corner of a building.

It then dawned on Rend that he was left by himself behind a shoddy defense at best. Preferably he wanted to just stay out of sight, but if they found and ganged up on him, he'd be done for. To his distaste, he swung around and peeked over the junk shield he had. There were approximately half a dozen of the airborne cretins. He took aim, but no sooner had he done this when one of the galleons sensed his presence and quickly fired to his side. Rend dropped back down, the shot having nearly glazed the top of his head; it wouldn't have shocked him to find singed hair later.

The junk behind him shook violently as it was now absorbing the punishment meant for him. He was almost certain they were now closing in on him. Once again, he was in another undesirable situation with his back against the wall. And it all felt like old hat. And, quite frankly, he HATED it.

Rend's head fell back, letting him stare at the sky's black veil. "I am so sick of this! A guy can't catch a break in this lunacy! If I have to run one more escape marathon—"

Scraps of metal were suddenly lobbed into his backside. He vehemently clutched his gun. "Blasted tin cans! I'm done with this!"

He possessed no strategy more than shoot or be shot. Standing tall, he pivoted around in a flash as his finger squeezed on the trigger.

There was no one there. The galleons were no longer in their prior position. Just what he needed.

So what headache of a manuever were they utilizing now? Had they tired of their engagement with them? Highly unlikely, he thought. So where were they? Rend scanned the area in front of him quickly, then checked to his rear.

He rushed backwards against the heap. One of them was no more than a dozen feet away from him, and it was posed to kill. Rend fumbled to fire his gun, but the humanoid had no such discrepancy in its movements. Rend saw the red dot in its visor pulsate; his stomach twisted into a knot as he anticipated what would happen next.

Suddenly a new glow cast a shadow in front of him. His head turned to the side. A shining light hit his eyes, and it was beaming stronger by the second. The sound of a vehicle's engine reached his ear. Moments before the light was on top of him, it his mind finally caught up and he threw himself one more time to the pavement below.

The speeding object soared over Rend's head as it used the junk heap as a jump, the engine revving impressively. It was a bright, sharp blue motorcycle with slick silver stripes and metallic coverings that shined even in the remote light that was present. Then a matching metallic hand shot out in front from its rider.

All at once, a surging cyan blast flew from the hand and smashed into the galleon. Enveloping its body almost immediately, its stance loosened and it literally thudded to the ground clumsily. With deft skill, the cyclist landed with ease, and proceeded to whirl the motorcycle into a spinning stop. The tires screeched, almost as if it was heralding the cyclist's arrival.

The person posed on the cycle was no doubt a human, though Rend thought the technology covering the person's hand was, though incredible, somewhat out of place. Regardless, the helmed rider had the visage of one ready to do business. And their outfit, however lacking in fashion it was, showed they had the firepower to back it up.

The approaching noise of jets shifted Rend and the cyclist's attention to the left, where four more galleons were approaching. The hand on the new figure's arm began to glow again, and with a swing of the hands, slits of blue exploded from the hand and slashed through the air around the galleons. It was as if a ninja-like entity had suddenly assaulted the group with one swift, amazing manuever. One by one, the galleons started falling from the gatling-like attack.

A lone one now remained. Though shaken from the attack, it was still airborne and ready to retaliate. It raised its gun to take a shot at its attacker. In an instant, a charged orb of energy materialized at the barrel. Then, in the next instant, the sharp sound of gunshot whisked through the air and a slender beam of pink blazed through both of the galleon's jets.

One fizzled out immediately, but the other shorted and began to spew flames uncontrollably. The galleon corkscrewed through the air, flailing to regain itself. Its attempt failed, however, as it rammed hard into the side of a building. Its malfunctioning jet exploded, and the humanoid slid down the wall and crumpled onto the pavement.

At the moment, nothing else stood to threaten the humans. Just like that, Rend was surprised to find that he could breath. And of course, Vex emerged from his hiding spot, looking unconcerned as ever. Rend shook himself off, took a deep breath, and then glared at Vex. "Thanks for leaving me out in the cold."

"I can't even believe you just wasted oxygen saying that."

Rend rolled his eyes and decided to get off the subject. Instead, he walked over to the cyclist whose timing couldn't have been better in saving his hide. "Hey." Rend now stood directly to the side of the motorcycle. The cyclist didn't appear to acknowledge his presence, but then again his rescuer was in the process of loosening the straps on the biker helmet. Goggles also accompanied the biker's outfit. "Anyway… thanks for showing up there. If you hadn't shown up, I might've been cooked."

"Would've been cooked."

"You know what, Vex? Just shut it." Rend turned back towards the cyclist. "Just thanks for showing up when you did—"

Finally, the cyclist loosened and removed the helmet. Supposedly, Rend shouldn't have been surprised, but he was anyway. As the helmet was lifted, long brown hair dropped out around the biker's head. His rescuer was a she.

Reaching for her goggles, she pulled them down around her neck to reveal piercing violet eyes. She had a short blue coat with a black suit underneath. She also sported blue jeans and dark blue shoes, with a grayish-blue bioframe rounding out her appearance. As she leaned on the handlebars of her ride, she smirked. "Sure thing, shades."

It didn't bother him that he'd been saved by a female. His sister, after all, had been the greatest fighter he'd ever seen. But when someone barges onto the scene with prowess rivaling that of a bike gangster, he'd assumed it was another male. On the other hand, he was mildly impressed.

But he noticed quickly that Vex was displeased. "Oh great!" He stated in loud fashion; how unlike him, Rend thought. "Just when things can't any worse, we go and make them infinitely more complicated."

The female gave him a demeaning glare. "Wow. Cranky much? You have a problem with a girl showing you up or something?"

"I didn't say you weren't skilled. You could be the world's greatest road warrior for all I care. Doesn't change the fact that things just became infinitely more complicated."

"It's the end of the world and men are still acting like macho pigs."

"Are you guys all right?"

Up from behind another cycle, colored a near-solid violet, rode in. Alongside its driver, there was a sidecar with another passenger. Giving them a quick glance, Rend noted they too were females. Vex once again showed disapproval. "Don't," Taylor suddenly remarked, looking at Vex, "Say a word, hotshot!"

The driver of the second motorcycle was blonde, with soft red eyes. She bore a long-sleeve coat that was lighter in color than the brown-haired girl, more like a cyan. She also wore jeans though with blue shoes, and her bioframe was of a silver sheen.

As for the figure in the sidecar, her blonde hair hung over a bright red headband, with an opening in the back where her hair came out in a ponytail. Her eyes were a vibrant light blue, and she had a red jacket that extended down almost like a cape. Her pants were an incredibly dark blue, almost black. Most notably, accompanying her great orange bioframe, was what looked like a sniper rifle housed on her right arm.

"Was that you who shot that last galleon?" Rend started. "Impressive."

She seemed to shy away from the comment, but her gentle voice spoke confidently. "I'm really not that good… but thanks anyway."

"Good enough to save our skins."

"Look, I hate to break up this chatter… really…" Vex crossed his arms. "But who exactly are you? Furthermore, what manner of stupidity are you exercising by riding out in the open like this?"

"Oh of course! Introductions…" The brown-haired girl piped up. "I'm Taylor. The other girl on the bike is my sister, Hanna." She motioned to the blonde rider, who had up to this point said nothing. She appeared even more reserved than her friend in the sidecar, who spoke up next.

"And I'm Aura, the third sister of this trio. It's a pleasure."

"Hardly."

"Would it kill you to act like a gentlemen?" Rend snapped, growing a little more bold in the presence of others. It helped that all of the newcomers appeared to be roughly his age and probably shared the same reservation. "Anyway, I'm Rend. This here is Vex."

"Nice to meet you Rend!" Taylor happily replied. "At least, given the circumstances."

"Vex is right though." Rend continued. "What are you doing out in the open like this? Anything more would be a death wish."

"Looking for survivors, of course." Taylor leaned back even more on her motorcycle; she said one thing, but her body language proposed she also couldn't stand still. But Rend had no room to complain. "It's pretty bad when your own group numbers only a couple hundred from a city this large."

"A couple hundred?" Rend exclaimed. "There are that many?"

"There's a lot of people who've managed to hold their own. Don't act so surprised." Taylor shifted from her spot. "But we ourselves may be out for the count if we keep hanging out in the open. We'll take you back to our hideaway. We can exchange full stories there."

The idea of finding refuge was immensely appealing. Rend felt his spirits lift at the idea. He was more than ready to oblige the offer, when he was hit with a startling thought. "Aw shoot! Ghar!"

"Who?" Aura's eyes perked up at the realization of another person. "Is someone else in trouble?"

"My friend Ghar! We left him in our last hiding spot to try and find assistance. He wasn't in the best of condition either. We need to—"

"Boy, you need to forget him." Rend turned to face Vex. "At this point, he's as good as gone. Don't kill yourself over his carcass."

"Unbelievable!" Rend was far past the point of annoyed at that point. If it wasn't one thing, it was always another. "I'm not abandoning him. I don't care what you say!" He paused, glaring at the veteran resolutely. "Either you're coming or you're not. Choose."

"I'm not, if there was any doubt." Vex remarked, void of hesitation. "But if you actually stopped and gave it a moment's thought, you'd probably understand just how dumb it all sounds."

"So wait then…" Taylor began to scratch her head. "What's our plan of action?"

"Taylor, we can't just leave this guy out in the cold to die." Aura protested. She had stepped out of the sidecar and approached her sister. "We have to do something!"

"Who says he's not already dead?" Vex pointed out.

"That doesn't matter. We need to know for sure."

Rend was again impressed by the red-clothed girl's resolve. Vex still continued his stubborn streak. "So the five of—the four of you are you going to risk your lives for a guy who's probably already dead?"

"I say we give it a shot!" Taylor raised a fist in the air, looking at her sisters for support. But then she frowned. "But… it isn't going to be a joyride like this, that's for sure. I don't mind… but what about you Hanna?"

"Sis, I'll do whatever you think is best." Hanna, who had been previously quiet, spoke for the first time.

"Well that's definitely reassuring, but…" Taylor began to wave her hands as if physically weighing options. "What about transporting him back? It's not like we can just carry him if he's bleeding all over the place."

"But what does that mean? We simply give up?" Aura said in pure question.

"Well, no… I mean… why is this so complicated? On one hand, we need to get to safety. I'm all for that, but we need to get this new player to safety too. But all of us present right now are able-bodied. Try to cover a half-lifeless body, and that's a whole 'nother story."

"Look. I don't care what you all decide." Rend stated. His figure was unmoving, almost as if noble. "I'm going back for him. He may have just been my everyday tag-along, but he was still…" Rend paused. It had been a long time since he felt so protective. "My friend."

Then, to his complete surprise, something seized him from behind. He was confident that once again he was under attack, and no doubt seconds from another death. But what he found, to his shock, was that he had not been captured by a cold galleon, but rather he had been whirled around by Vex himself, who had grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Rend, get your head on straight! You're running nothing more than a dead man's errand! Take your head out of the gutter and consider the consequences of your actions! You don't want to die, Rend. If you truly care about all this, then you'll choose to live!"

Was this the same person Rend had spent nearly the last twenty-four hours with? He had never expected Vex to come at him with such… passion. It was evident in the way he spoke. For one gleaming second, Rend thought he could see the genuine concern of the hardened military soldier.

Yet as his mind floated back to Ghar, the one who'd befriended him after his sister's death, his expression again turned steady. "I have to do this." Ghar may have only been a loud-mouthed, know-it-all goof, but to Rend he was still a valuable friend. After four years of almost total loneliness, he wouldn't turn his back on the man who'd given him that one shred of companionship. "I'm going to do it, whether you like it or not."

Vex released his hold. He didn't throw his arms up or shoot him with the glare of a thousand red-eyed galleons. He simply turned around with little more than a sigh. "You're such an obstinate piece of work. Unappreciative too."

"Right back at ya'."

Though his determination was clear, now this left Rend wondering how he would organize such a rescue. He'd willingly do it even if it meant carrying him over his shoulder for miles, but gaining the maximum chance of success was a vital matter.

"Let's do this." Aura spoke up, who apparently was wasting no time in making her case. "Taylor, you head back to base and get properly equipped to transport his friend. Take Hanna back too. That way she can get back to safety and provide you with an extra set of eyes for the ride back. While you do that, I'll go with Rend to help secure Ghar's position."

Rend took a step back. "You're… willing to do that?"

"Of course. I mean…" Somewhat worryingly, she half-shrugged. "I don't know how useful I can be… but if I can help…"

"Absolutely!" Rend exclaimed. For once it was a pleasant surprise. "Having someone cover my back would be great. And I'll do my part too. It is my friend after all."

"Great!" Taylor nodded her approval. "I'm glad someone has this all figured out. I'll see what's back home." She dismounted her ride and began to give orders. "Hanna, hook the sidecar up to my cycle. We'll ride back on mine so Aura and shades can use yours. Using that is fine with you, right Aura?"

Aura smiled. "It would be very appreciated."

"Hey." Vex bluntly grabbed their attention. "I'll head back with the homebound group. I can assess your current standings and get a grip on what I'm working with."

Putting her left hand on her hip, Taylor gave him a skeptical look. "What? You gonna march in and stage a take over, hotshot?"

"I can help organize your defenses. I doubt you have anyone there who's done otherwise."

"Whatever." Anxious to get things rolling, Taylor prepared to disembark while Hanna secured the sidecar to its new place. "Hanna, you get on back. Vex can ride in the sidecar."

It was undesirable, but Vex sighed and entered the sidecar anyway. It was just not worth fighting over at that point, and Vex had bigger priorities to nail. Taylor secured her helmet back into place and raised her goggles. "You two be careful! And I expect her in one piece when I get back, shades! You hear that?"

Shifting into gear, the motorcycle roared and the three were off. They raced down the road and into another sidestreet, leaving Rend and Aura with the other cycle.

"Heh." Pondering the brown-haired cyclist's last remark, Rend actually grinned, which was unusual in and of itself. But maybe it was because the prospect of a new ally at his side was lifting his mood a touch. At least this one, given her similar age, wouldn't take every occasion to eclipse his youthful inexperience. And if she somehow did, he probably deserved it.

Rend glanced to the right at Aura. "No pressure, huh? I'm sure she'll tear me apart if I don't bring you back."

"I have a feeling if anything happens to me, you'll be in the same boat." She threw out the witty remark quietly and rather nervously, but she was still smiling. "On the other hand, she actually left me here, so that says she trusts you… and me, for once."

"You don't say?" Rend wouldn't know any better himself, given he'd barely met the three. But despite the fact that meeting some new faces had been a fresh distraction, they weren't out of the fire yet. He quickly shifted his eyes toward the violet motrocycle before them. "Let's gun it. We need to get a move on."


	10. Of Traps and Toys

**Author's Notes: Its back! I know its been awhile, for life has been quite the ride in the past few months. But I've managed to get some writing done and now I can update this story! So thanks for bearing with me. And so you also know this as well, I have rough drafts for the next two chapters done already, so there should be more material coming in the near future. So again, here we go...**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Of Traps and Toys**

The violet motorcycle of Hanna and Aura had proved to be useful, as Rend and Aura were now cruising to Ghar's location, albeit having to weave past the frequent debris which cluttered the street. Aura was quite the cyclist herself, and the motorcycle itself was a bit quieter than the other. Rend suspected that didn't help much, however, as they were still driving in the open and the technology with which the humanoids were equipped could probably pick up traces of just about anything. On the other hand, he'd already learned that the odds were well stacked against them, so any reason why he should care seemed trivial.

His memory was a touch sketchy, but Rend still had enough confidence in his sense of direction. "Take a left up here."

"Right."

Effortlessly, Aura glided to the left and they continued on their way. Rend watched carefully for any signs of humanoids. The last thing they needed was another ambush. Suddenly, he shook Aura's shoulder. "Stop!"

"What?"

"Over there! We're here."

"You scared me half out of my mind there…"

Aura slid to the side of the street and slowed to a relatively gentle stop. Off to their right side was the complex Rend and Vex had previously sought shelter in. Aura quickly removed her helmet and placed it on her handlebar, taking a glance at the building Rend had obviously pointed out. "So that's it?"

"Yeah. That's the one."

"Let's not drag our feet." Then Aura revealed a simplistic orange piece of metal. She pushed it into the underside compartment of her bioframe, and Rend watched as streams of data circled around her arm and came to form an armlet with an accompanying rifle. Rend's eyes widened with interest. "So that's what that was."

"Yes. Biomerge… the power of biometal."

"Biometal. Can't say I'm too up to speed on that stuff. Certainly don't have time to catch up now, although…" Rend stopped. "Yeah, I forgot. I came across this thing, but I don't even know how it works."

Rend once again removed the biometal he'd recovered from the hidden lab. Rend slipped the purple object into Aura's hands for investigation. Now she was wrought with intrigue.

"This… this doesn't look like normal biometal. Its technology seems rather… foreign to anything I've ever seen."

"As if I would know."

"Still…" Rend could tell Aura was a bit bewildered. "Where did you get this?"

"Too long a story."

"I suppose so, given the urgency of our situation. Does it work?"

With utmost apathy, Rend shrugged. "Again, how should I know?"

"Well, why don't you try it? The worst that can happen is that it won't work."

"Yeah… I mean, I guess." Rend was hesitant. He was still apprehensive about the whole idea of biometal. He simply didn't know enough. "But do we have time? I mean, it may require configuration... stuff that could hamper the bioframe functions."

"It's really not as complicated as it sounds. Here." She placed it back in his hand and then signaled under his wrists. "It's right there. Just slip it in right there and—"

Cut short. She was forced through the air by a diving Rend. Three things hit the ground at once: Rend, Aura, and a star-shaped disk landing parallel to their motorcycle.

"What was that?" Aura gasped out. But she had little time to get her wits about her, as Rend was already pulling her up. Rend was well enough acquainted with such things be now and knew the proper action all too well.

"Just run!"

Seizing her by the arm, he took off for the cover of complex. Rend was almost surprised by his own reaction time. It momentarily dawned upon him that his own instincts were no longer overshadowed by that of Vex's. The veteran wasn't there to make the first move; it was now up to him to carry the reins.

Now it was his turn to take charge. A momentarily daunting thought, but impending nonetheless. It was imperative he not disappoint now.

As such, Rend took initiative and acted. After Rend and Aura were far from the thrown weapon, a figure leapt down from a shattered window and practically smashed into the ground. He laid his hand upon the disk and grunted. "Missed."

Then to his side, another figure casually floated down. "Why must you insist on dirtying every conceivable speck in this sullied place? As if this terrain isn't soiled enough already… I doubt you even knew what that was."

"It wasn't one of ours, and it moved. Simple logic."

His companion responded with the tilt of his head. "How predictably rash."

* * *

"Did we lose it?"

Rend turned his head, both of them still running at a brisk pace. "We appear to have shaken whatever that was… for now."

Aura came to an immediate stop, her hands falling down to her knees while she panted. "What was that? Was that another humanoid?"

"I don't know…" Rend took a quick look to the side, partially watching the rear from whence they'd came and scanning the area to his right for any other threats. "It was definitely different then what we've encountered before. But for the time being, we don't have time to worry about it. Let's just avoid anymore detection for now and—"

"Shoot!"

Rend returned his look to the front. "Oh for the love of-!"

It was more galleons. More galleons… with greater firepower. Four of them stood in their way, but equipped with something massive. They were outfitted in a large, tank-like armor. Massive treads and large blaster arms complimented their intimidating appearance.

Of course they were positioned inconveniently for them. Rend didn't even reach for a weapon. "This is disgusting."

"Rend, they…!"

They were now well-aware of the human's presence. With cumbersome movement, their energies began concentrating at their arm's barrels.

Rend jumped in front of Aura, though he was certain it would do neither of them any good. He was operating on impulse, and they were acting on an emotionless drive to kill. All too familiar, but now having to rely on his own inventiveness, he couldn't see how he was going to get them out of this. Vex wasn't there to pull a wild one. Common sense dictated they're were dead meat.

Yet the answer quickly made itself known, and in a very unexpected way. Abruptly, out of the darkness of the building, the sound of air sliced by steel was heard. In another bizarrely-twisted moment, slashed pieces of heavy metal supports came rocketing out of the black. The galleons slowly turned to look, only in time to catch the brunt side of the massive scrap. There was no contest; just like that, the tankers were buried alive.

Aura looked out from behind Rend. Though Rend was easily shocked by the happening, Aura still inquired innocently, "Are we… safe?"

The mask of solemnity blaringly written all over his face was response enough for her. "Not if whatever just did that is still on the war path."

It really felt like just another interruption. His body seemed beyond panic at this point, seemingly timed well given Vex's absence. It appeared his time under the veteran had prepared him well, even if his body still refused to cope. He stood firmly despite the fact that his limbs felt numb.

The danger and alarm was apparent, and his mind screamed inside. Yet the overpowering and curdling screech that followed the airborne mass didn't move him.

But Aura gripped Rend's coat, almost fanning him as she shook it in her trembling grasp. She was trying desperately to keep her composure. "R-Rend…"

Breaking free from the shadows around it, a tall figure sprang from the complex, planting himself skillfully on the dusty ground in front of the junk heap. Rend could barely bring himself to believe that the figure had made the animal scream… or that it had so easily flung the mass of junk.

His reploid body was incredibly skinny, the area between his chest and waist nearly non-existent while his synthetic joints were blatantly distinguishable. His skin was multiple shades of dark green, creating an erie, if not ineffective, form of camo. But his face was what blatantly relayed the savagery of the reploid. His mouth possessed unnatural curves and juts, almost as if gnarled. Black rings enveloped his eyes, and a large brownish crown-like object lay atop his head, enormous spikes protruding upwards and a light green diamond embedded in the front.

His mouth curled about his grayish skin as he lifted his two massive scythes up from the ground. "Hehe… hehee! What a prize… I've found fresh blood."

"Fah!" Rend's words sounded blankly rehearsed. "Run!"

Rend was hoping that by some freak chance they could outrun the crazed figure. But dismays followed upon each other as they turned to find a new threat.

A short reploid that looked like little more than a child stood to their rear, but he held an icy blue dagger in his small hand. "You're not going anywhere, humans!" He cried, his voice a little high but strangely commanding.

Regardless, his cyan bowl cut and his bright violet eyes gave him a very kid-like demeanor. His body's suit was teal with a darker turquoise coloring his small gauntlets and tiny boots. With a dagger in hand and a witty look, judging the small one's potential was like a puzzle.

"What… is that?" Aura asked.

"Hey! I'm one tough dude! Don't you think for one second I can't—"

"Blah-blah-blah… size doesn't matter, you're a twit, and so on."

The little reploid sighed at the appearance of two more reploids behind. They were, indeed, the same two from back by the motorcycle.

Their visage was simple enough. The one who'd called out the dagger-wielding reploid was the one with the disk. His reploid suit was dark red-orange and his hands and boots were a darker red. His limbs were not muscular but not scrawny either. A bit of his skin was showing via his face, it being a dark tan, and what looked like squiggly chunks of hair were positioned strangely on the top of his head like a small abrupt patch of thick grass.

His ally was a touch taller with a reploid suit of a dark violet and gloves and boots of a night black. He was a little less muscular than his companion but his stature was a bit more defined and dignified. His dark violet hair jutted towards the back in a pattern resembling that of a zigzagging bolt of lightning, while his face showed a shady grayish-blue tone of skin.

And like the scythed fighter Rend and Aura had encountered before, they all had capes of ivory. And their eyes were bizarrely lacking in pupils. If Rend hadn't been too busy trying to assess the situation, their strange glares might have been enough to mesmerize him.

The disk-wielding reploid continued to speak. "Just move. I missed my shot and I ain't gonna let that happen again."

"Hey, who says you get to have all the fun, Flare?"

"To you, its fun. To me, this is serious business."

"Oh sure!"

"Just clear out of my way, Chill."

"You know what? I found him first!"

"Hah! Little runt. In all honesty, I found him first. That guy clearly has a date with my spiked disc."

"You think you're so high and mighty."

"Yeah? You couldn't touch me, you frostbitten whelp."

"You wanna bet? I'll rip you in two!"

"I'll do ya' better! I'll—"

Nearly everyone flew backwards from their place as a flying scythe slammed into the ground between the two arguing reploids.

"Fyah!" The tall reploid screeched in a high, painful manner. "I'm about to incise both of you if you don't shut up! I could've had both of them decapitated by now if my ears weren't screaming from your incessant babbling!"

Rend and Aura were surrounded by four (or at least three; Flame's companion hadn't said a word) incredibly antsy reploids.

Far from desirable. And once again, Rend thought, a statement of the undesirable obvious. Unbelievable.

"Oh c'mon, Reaver. Then why haven't you?" Flare pointed out.

"Because personally, I find you incredibly annoying! For once, it'd be nice to have a fresh murder without your blaring idiocies mangling my ears!"

"Reaver, you kill. It's not bioframe science!"

"Still so naïve, Flame. It's an art. You don't just wake up and start flailing around like a senseless mettaur."

"Yeah Flare!" Chill piped up. "Why do you have to be so sloppy?"

Flare snapped back at him. "Can it, pipsqueak! I didn't ask your opinion!"

"You all are such inconceivable fools."

The other three turned towards the caped reploid. Flare scowled. "What are you running on about, Void?"

"You could've all been done with the act by now. Instead, you're lingering about arguing like a schoolyard full of elementary children. Honestly. You have more class than that, even if it isn't much."

Finally someone was talking like they were sensible and yet everything was still madly out of line. Still, Rend couldn't help feeling like he was caught in the middle of a political debate. And so against impossible circumstances, that little patch of the world had been righted, and people were speaking to each other on a level basis as if all was well. Then again, Rend had to remind himself that these were most likely not normal pedestrians. And if they were with Biolife, as seemed a likely accusation, then this all made sense to them. From his stance, he was supposed to feel like a bug under a microscope, one being mulled over by a group of jittery scientists.

His eyes turned nervously at Aura, whose appearance was riddled with affrighted confusion. He needed to do something. As he looked back up at the enemies before him, Void gestured impatiently.

"Just finish them already. Take turns… team up… do something, for crying out loud."

"OK… let's just count to five." Chill began to explain. "On five, we'll attack. First come, first serve, so no whining!"

"Oh, now that has to be the stupidest excuse of an idea I've ever heard!" Flare yelled out, making his case obnoxiously clear.

"So state your proposition then." Void followed up his remark with a glare at the red reploid, who merely grunted. "Exactly. Now someone start and get this over with so we can all go home."

Five seconds. It was better than nothing. Rend slowly moved his hand back into position around Aura's arm. She didn't dare look at him. Flare once again groaned, and then began to speak.

"All right, all right… one… two… why are we doing it like this again?"

"You treat it like a game so it will be conducted as such. Now count." Void muttered, his voice a small level louder.

"Fine. So, where was I… um, three…"

Rend shifted his feet. If he was seeing correctly, there was a small path through the rubble they could utilize to escape. He gripped a little harder on his companion's arm, trying to prepare her for what was next.

The fourth number was about to part from Flare's mouth, and Rend was about to make his move, when suddenly everything terribly backfired.

"Raging idiots!"

The reploid's patience gone, Rend's and Aura's countdown was cut short by none other than the scythe maniac Reaver. His speed put him already halfway to where he wanted to be, and his fellows barely had time to protest, much less restrain the reploid. Rend did the only thing that registered at that point. He made a desperate push, sending Aura to the ground so Rend could absorb any potential strikes; Rend barely managed to clutch the gun at his side without dropping it, but still threw it upwards and pulled the trigger.

In an instant, his sense seemed to evaporate. His vision went white as a burning sensation overtook his body. In a moment, his limbs almost went limp. He was trying to keep his stand, but it seemed impossible. Everything was dissolving...

Too far… why had he pushed so hard? Maybe for once, Vex had been right. And now…

"Insolence."

All at once, everything snapped back into reality. The dream of heat was vanishing and he was, remarkably, still standing. Of course, he'd exhausted any feeling of surprise because, somewhat as Void had said, it was all part of the game at this point. He was convinced that anyone and everyone was toying with him at this point.

His eyes caught a glimpse of the events that had unfolded. Someone… had saved him? Before him, there was a new figure. But this reploid was strikingly different.

As for Reaver, his scythe had become a molten puddle. As for himself, he had quickly found a fierce kick delivered straight into his narrow gut, propelling him backwards at an amazing speed. As his arm flew around the pulverized spot, he managed to keep his feet planted and stay afoot. As for thw owner of the foot, he merely returned it to the dusty earth and stood with dogmatic posture.

Rend, despite the lack of shock, still sensed that the situation was far from over. But remembering his previous actions, he felt temporarily safe enough to kneel at Aura's side. "Aura?"

"I-I'm fine." Aura sounded anything but, the wind clearly having been taken from her lungs. "But th-this… did that one just save—"

"Yes." The new figure replied, the voice coming forth awry and oily, but seaming with authority and command. "But rest assured, I most certainly did not do that for you."

And then Rend noticed the total form of the other reploids change in an instant, most intensely Reaver's. He made no hesitation in expressing a very eruptive displeasure. "Fyah! Star?"

The breeze that floated through the ruinous city picked up the cape of the flame-wielding crusader. He had his long lightly-colored ruby hair was back in a neat ponytail behind him, and his heated red-orange suit appeared untouched by the dirt of the landscape. He gauntlets and boots were a darkened mix of red and orange, but his eyes were a pure untainted red. His appearance was nothing short of renegade regality.

He moved into a new position, twisting calmly around to a place where he could now see the other three. More importantly to him, he could now cast them a subtle gleam of disapproval; if they knew the new reploid as well as Rend gathered, he didn't need to anything more than that to make his case.

"I send you all on a simple scouting mission, and yet I find you like this: butchering anything you can get your grimy hands on."

"It's an uninfected human!" Reaver protested. "That's—"

"No excuse. Who's to say those two couldn't still make excellent subjects for our tests?"

"Seriously, Star?" Flare was reluctant to challenge, but he was also too anxious to be overly concerned with that. "What's one human? Or two? We've been getting written off in a royal manner lately. Just let us have a little fun."

"You have not been granted clearance to do as such."

"Oh c'mon!" Reaver shrieked.

"Furthermore," Star continued, his body unmoving as his head went back to staring at Reaver. "I am your superior… head of the Seraph Vanguard. As far as you're concerned, you'll do as I say unless otherwise instructed by those of higher rank than I. You are well aware of that."

"But Star—"

"Silence, Flare." Star swung out his hand in muting command. Then, in a way that made Rend want to shiver, his head winded about his shoulders as he now focused his attention on the two humans.

"So… what're you two doing up at such a late hour?"

The male human was smart enough not to say anything. Something about this "Star" character offset him immediately, and rightfully so. He was quite confident that this one was more perilous than all the other four combined. The complex before him now seemed that much farther away.

"You have business in this building behind me?"

What? How? Rend grimaced slightly, though he tried not to loosen his expression too much. He glanced up, making eye contact for a split second. Swiftly he forced his eyes to the side; seemingly, this reploid was exceptional at reading into his expressions and... he could only guess what else.

"So what is it then, hm? Did you live here? No, of course not. This is not a human dwelling. Did you lose something important? For obviously you would not have returned for something trivial. You don't look to be the man who fusses over petty things. Whatever it is, you're dead set on it, despite the fact that I now stand clearly in your path… with enough pure unleashed firepower, you're well aware, to do away with you in seconds."

Rend clenched his teeth. To feel physically trapped was bad enough, but the illusion that his mind was transparent? He wasn't getting anywhere fast. In a bold move, he lifted his eyes and fastened them boldly on the reploid named Star before him.

"Yes, that's exactly what I thought." Star mused confidently. The gesture seemed to amuse him. "Low Vanguard. You are to vacate the area immediately. Return to base."

"WHAT?" Reaver made an absolutely sterling impression of nails to a chalkboard with his voice. "But we… we're not done here yet!"

"On the contrary, we are."

"But Star, what about these two humans?" Flare signaled distastefully at the pair. "Don't we need to—"

"Leave them."

"Leave them?" Flare was about ready to explode himself. "Just… leave the—"

"I said leave them. You will come to gravely regret it if you make me say it again."

"Star…" Void began, still the calmest one out of the original four, but now showing a subtler seed of annoyance. "What manner of tomfoolery are you imagining now?"

"You know me well enough, Void, to understand that I do everything with purpose. You need not know more than that."

"I think we'd better listen, guys." Chill said while nodding at Star. "Let's move out."

"And just let this delicious chance pass us up?" Reaver roared, still in a very high and tormenting pitch. "What is this stupidity?"

For the first time Star grimaced with fierce condescension, and it was wholly focused at Reaver. "Would you really be so dense as to ignore a direct order from your leader?"

"You have to be kidding me!"

Before anything else could be said, the slim reploid flung his cape around him, and in a shimmer of white he disappeared as a beam of light into the air.

Star once again faced the main group, his anger evaporating effortlessly as his expression returned to the previous norm. "Hmm. He finally got bored. I'll have to punish him accordingly when I get back. That will hinge on how many mechaniloids he decides to butcher in my absence."

The prospect of them simply leaving was both thrilling and wildly incomprehensible. They would just let the two of them run free when, obviously, they were enemies to the reploids' cause? As he doubted, Rend's feelings felt more founded as one more protest arose from Flare.

"Come on Star. Just let us rough 'em up a little."

"Why are you still wasting your breath?" Void eyes casted yet more disdain at him. "You know that the only sensible and proper thing to do at this point is do as you're told."

"Yeah!" Chill burst out. "Always have to follow orders!"

"…meh. You two are such kiss-ups."

Then, when the furling of their capes, the three transported away in like fashion as before. Rend gave the streams of light a second of his attention, but quickly refocused on what the main concern should've been.

But the long-haired reploid that remained only smiled, and even gleefully at that. Ackward was putting it mildly; whatever confusion was happening to Rend was probably the desired effect wanted by his tormenter. Star's eyes were fastened, unwavering.

"Go on. Take care of business. Have some fun."

Only because Rend knew that practically no sense had been made of anything since square one, he was inclined to walk away and roll with whatever happened. It wasn't like he could do anything else. But as for Aura, who clearly was uncomfortable with everything that had been happening, she just had to open her mouth.

"But… what are you doing?"

"Me?" Star raised his eyebrow. "I'm leaving. You're interesting ones to be strolling around like this. I'm curious to see what will become of you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't trouble yourselves with it. Have yourselves a splendid time." Star paused resolutely. His posture and mannerisms were now relaxed. "Think of it like a box of cereal..." Blast, Rend felt the nonchalance in Star's voice could've killed him. "Enjoy yourself. Get your fill. That's always important. And who knows? You may find a special little treat within!"

And that was the end of it. In a blaze of fire, Star disappeared like the rest.

* * *

The complex was in the same mess they'd left it before. Rend kicked over a piece of rubble propped up in an obstructing way. Either he would find a path or make one to his friend, for he hadn't "evaded" five combat-ready reploids to let the building itself overcome him. Despite the psychological absurdity he'd just been subjected to, his way was open again and he was intent on taking it.

Yet he couldn't ignore what had just happened, especially since Aura was lingering apprehensively behind. She was keeping up, and she didn't appear nearly as spooked as she had before, but it was evident that it was weighing on her mind.

Again, she couldn't bear it any longer. "Rend?"

Rend concealed frustration at the calling of his name. "Yeah?"

"What… did he mean?"

"Who knows. He was probably half-crazy as it was anyhow." He tried his best to write off the whole situation, but it clearly wouldn't work.

"The way he spoke… the way he looked at us… I can't get it out of my mind."

"That's what he wants. He's toying with you... with us."

"Toying…" She shuddered. "What do you think he's planning?"

Rend sighed heavily, but as he turned to face her, his expression eased. "Aura, I honestly don't know what's going to happen. I want you to go back and ride for Taylor."

"What?"

"I can't guarantee your safety anymore." Another exhausted breath came from his lungs. "I knew this was insanity before I even started out for this place. This whole blasted thing is insanity. I don't like saying it, but it's the truth. And if anyone's going to eat dirt because of this expedition, it's going to be me. I want to you get out of here and meet up with your sisters."

Aura stood motionless. She glanced around, noticing the remnant of what used to be a successful business. A mall, it appeared. What was once a place to convene and have a good time was barely a shadow of its former self. The merchandise of a past time, not so distant ago, was torn, twisted, and scattered about. It created a dusky décor that made one wish they were back in time a mere forty-eight hours before the wretched turns of events had transpired.

But it was useless to look backwards. With a grim resolve, Aura shook her head. "I won't."

"What's that?"

"We came here on a mission. We aren't leaving that easily. And I most certainly am not giving up that easily. We're both going to stick this out." She stared at him with an innocence that seemed incomprehensible at that point. "I'm going to face this like I should."

"Aura, I—"

Suddenly both leapt up at the sound of some distant clutter collapsing. Rend whirled around, finally managing to aim his gun without shaking. Despite the first impulse, he merely noticed that a railing had given way and let some ruin fall to the first floor from the second. He couldn't see exactly what had happened, given the only source of light was the moon. It was proving ample enough now that their eyes had adjusted, but the visibility still was not great.

Rend glanced around briskly, trying to scan in the limited light. "Aura. I will do my best to protect, but I…" He stopped. He didn't want to lose his only help at this point, but he also didn't want her walking into a death trap. It was no simple ordeal they were involved in, for even a simple transport was rendered terribly dangerous in their new environment.

"Decide right now. Are you staying, or going?"

"I'm staying here with you. I already made that clear."

Judging by the lack of hesitation, it was clear Aura was straightening up for the job, though a fear of the unknown still tainted her voice. But Rend nodded, though reluctantly. "I see you're not going to move on this. All right, stay close." Rend looked up at the sky. "Man, it's too quiet." He gave an annoyed smile. "Well, whatever. I guess it can stay that way for all I care. Less complicated."

"Just makes you wonder, I guess…" Aura started. "When's the next bad thing going to happen…"

"As long as it isn't happening right now, I don't plan on rocking that boat—"

There was a gust of wind. A chilling sensation. In the matter of a second, the atmosphere shifted. Rend could feel it. It was just one of those things you abruptly felt, and adapted to.

And Rend adapted by going on the defensive. By now, he was attuned to this.

And as if on cue, the gust turned into a blast of air.

In the matter of an instant, something was on top of them again. Rend, however, was ready this time.

It did him next to nothing. This was because whatever it was had grabbed its target and dragged it from the ground into the air. And its target was Aura.


	11. Unwavering Intentions

**Author's Notes: Next chapter! We have another character entering the fray, which you could probably guess if you read the last chapter.**

**But I also wanted to point out that I'm going to have a new poll up on my profile page. Feedback is a great thing, and the poll is simple enough: Who is your favorite character thus far? I'd like to see which characters are catching the attention of my audience. This poll is NOT BLIND, so you can see the results as they come in. But wait until you're done with this chapter! Or don't... you just won't know who one of the characters is. Either way. And if you leave a review, feel free to mention why that character is your favorite. I'd appreciate that!**

**Enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Unwavering Intentions**

He'd grown sick of the accustomed attack upon attack routine, but for once Rend wished in wrenching agony that he'd taken the last attack. Had it happened to Vex, he could've probably cared less; it would've been no surprise for Rend to witness his veteran ally turn the tables back in his favor anyway. But of course, it wasn't Vex, as the norm seemed to show that the weakest target was the subject of the most punishment.

This punctured his skull all too sharply as Aura screamed in terrible shock. The beast—whatever it was—arrowed through the sky, flying effortlessly as it came to a hovering stop a couple dozen yards away.

Cold metal was pressed hard against the right side of her face, but with her left eye Aura could see a pair of glaring red eyes focused intently upon her. Screaming the only reaction in her helpless condition, she found she could no longer even do that as her breath eluded her.

Its crooked mechanical mouth opened. Piercing straight to its prey, a high, beastly roar sent a mind-shattering shockwave through the female's being.

"Hey!"

The blunt yet vigorous call garnered the captor's attention. Coming clean at him was a sphere of gunshot energy. With a simple stroke of what appeared to be multiple arms, a lashing swing diffused the blast easily. With an unalarmed grunt, the thing began to search for its attacker with a calculating look.

But Rend had moved with purpose, for he had little margin for error even with the distraction. Leaping up a garbage heap, he jumped at a pillar and wall-jumped towards his enemy with as much might as he could muster. Another charging shot at the ready, he fired.

To his great relief, it found its way right into the apparatus that held Aura. It proceeded to place a nice singed gash while the claw that was holding Aura loosened. Rend was at the ready. He landed and slid into place, positioning himself right below Aura. He'd barely had enough time to get in a balanced position, but he kept his footing as Aura dropped into his arms.

"Aura! Aura, are you all right?"

Her lack of response gave him momentary worry, but slowly her eyes began to open. The pale coloration in her face gave way to only a small bit of reprieve. "Rend…?"

But her attention was drawn quickly to her side, as was Rend's. Lighting now on the second story flooring before him, the new character took a lofty position and returned the glare.

It was by far one of the most bizarre things Rend had ever seen, which said something given what he'd witnessed thus far. He noticed now that the thing didn't have multiple arms, but rather clawed tentacles that enveloped its being as if it was a cloak. Atop a metallic chest plate and matching shoulder guards sat its head, its mouth metal with upward slivering fangs and its face that of a black spherical visor, with chilling red eyes the only other color visible; they appeared to be lights built right into the visor, and they twisted down and about in a crooked fashion. Not least of its features, it had a metal collar-like object that crowned its look with something reminiscent of a horror movie vampire; rather fitting, given Rend could've easily drawn such a comparison to his current situation.

As they stared off, finally what sounded like language came from the thing. "It has some kick. I prefer my cuisine with a little spice anyway." Its mouth made no movement, but rather its visor flashed red with every syllable, blotting out its eyes momentarily with each flash. Its voice, surprisingly, sounded refined like a gentleman, although a certain oily quality was also present.

Rend stood his ground, as it seemed to be the best option per Vex's behavior. Now was a better time than ever, anyway, to start using it himself. Boldly, Rend fired a straightforward question. "Just what are you?"

"What am I? Hmm…" A metal hand emerged from beneath its cloak and began to tap at what was supposed to be its mouth, the tapping noise lightly echoing through the large expanse. "That is certainly the question of the hour. Am I that much different from you? Or am I barbarous beast, who seeks only for the luscious delicacy that is… hm-mm, human blood? All things considered, truly, what am I?"

Its eyes floated up in a state of ponder, but he paused only momentarily from his speech. "But if you want to get technical…" Rend barely managed to keep from shuddering as the creepy figure locked its gaze back at him. It scratched at its armor, each faint noise of his mannerisms seemingly attempting to peel apart Rend's sanity. Rend had hardened himself plenty in the time he'd spent staving off humanoids and conspiring reploids, but this was yet another difficult test of his endurance. The mechanical being lifted its hands and leaned forward in a sort of bow. "I am the pseudoroid who flies in the bask of the twilight. I am the fanged assassin whose presence conjures a thousand tears of despair and pain. I am the bringer of your slow, tormenting destruction… the draculoid, Ghorlust."

"What do you want with us?"

"It is not obvious? Your red beverage appeals to me…"

"What? But... you're a mechanic being!" Rend shouted in pointed confrontation of the deranged character. "What good would that do to you?"

"Sport," Came the response without delay.

"Oh, this is crazy!"

"Crazy, you say? Not anymore. See, my good man… chaos reigns at every corner. Thugs and brutes have rule of the day. By all measures, if anything is crazy… it's the fact that two humans are bouncing about like this new world is their plaything."

Rend flicked his hand open. "I don't have time for this."

"I'm sure that reasoning worked well on everything else you talked too."

Again, Rend was getting a whole lot of nowhere fast. "Look you." Rend lifted an indignant finger at the pseudoroid. "I'm going to get what I came here for. As for you, you'll get more of what I gave you earlier if you see fit to stand in my way."

"What? This?" The pseudoroid Ghorlust took a glance at his damaged tentacle. "Bah, this is nothing." A second later, streams of data materialized and wrapped themselves like a bandage around the apparatus. In the matter of a few moments, the streams dissipated and revealed a tentacle that looked as if it was fresh off a production line. "Behold the power of biomerge. Astounding, isn't it?" A slight laugh could be heard from the pseudoroid. "And what do you have? A pistol that heaves the equivalent of pebbles. You don't scare me, feeble one. But…" The twisted red beams in Ghorlust's visor widened. "I am very inquiring. What did you come here for anyway?"

"That's none of your business."

"I'll make it my business. This ruin is no place for the likes of yourself. Perhaps I can assist you."

"You what?" Rend couldn't believe what was hitting his ears. Another trick, he presumed.

"Here's how it is. Let us have a gentlemen's duel."

"You can't be serious."

"Completely serious. I'm a reasonable one, and I need to kill the boredom anyway. Name your terms."

By now, it was all Rend could do to play along. The method of adapting to the flow was always showing itself to be the best way to survive. "Fine. I win, and you let this girl and me leave in one piece… as well as the other man I came for."

"Another man? You believe there to be others in this place? But then… oh… hmhmm…" Ghorlust chortled. "Of course…"

Rend searched the electronic expressions of the pseudoroid. "Excuse me?"

"Good. The terms are this. If you win, you and your friends can leave this place without any harm, barring what you sustain in our little skirmish. But if I win..." Ghorlust paused. "I get the pleasure of doing away with you… and then, judging on how fast she can retreat, the lass as well."

"Aura?" His eyes moved momentarily in Aura's direction, who was now back on her own two feet. "That's—"

"And as well… if you can seize victory, I will also be so courteous as to reveal the information pertaining to what's happened to your friend."

"You know what?" Rend clenched his fist. Despite his best efforts, the situation was being taken out of his hands again. "But—"

"Sterling. The duel is on."

"I never accepted those terms!"

"Given the circumstances, I don't see you having much choice."

So much for dealing like gentlemen. Rend whirled around and quickly spoke to Aura. "Run! Get out of here while I deal with this creep!"

"But Rend, I—"

"Don't argue! Just go! Meet up with Taylor and wait for me back at where we parked the cycle! We'll go about rescuing Ghar from there. If I don't come back…"

"Rend!"

"Just go! Forget about me and get the others! Now!"

Feeling cornered, all Aura could think to do was follow the command. She hesitated to take her eyes off Rend as she began to backpedal, but finally she started into a brisk sprint away from the arena of combat. It was now just Rend and Ghorlust.

Silence prevailed as the two once again eyed each other, locked on one another. A wind howled through the expanse, but neither budged. Ghorlust nodded. "Very good. Now its just you and me, so let's do this properly. Hmhmm…" Red light illuminated the surroundings as energy began to encircle the dreadful beast. Slowly, his body ascended back into the air, slender red surges all about him. Then, following a sharp yell, a flash sent Rend's arm over his eyes. Rend expected an attack, but the light dimmed and Rend saw what the intended outcome was. The six tentacles about his body had engaged a type of energy field that now intertwined the apparatuses in a pair of wings. The artificial cloak removed, Rend could now clearly see the slim metallic body that belonged to the dark pseudoroid.

He looked almost human in shape, and it was that false reality that truly shook Rend inside. Rend could almost feel the cold finger of the pseudoroid touch his chest as he pointed at the human, despite the fact he was several yards away.

Ghorlust's eyes surged as if effortlessly draining its target of spirit by merely having the human in his line of sight. "Well then…"

Gone. The red shorted out. Rend panicked only for a moment, but the returning darkness left him with little to work with. Was this just another scare tactic? Rend couldn't let himself crumble under pressure. But the black veil hid almost all from his eyes.

This time the fight was on. There was no turning back. No fleeing. This one was to be finished.

Memories. The times he'd covered Ghar's back for his clueless mistakes… every snide remark he'd ever hastily rattled off… it seemed to all flood back instantaneously.

"Ghar." Rend gritted his teeth.

"And we begin."


	12. Moonlight Warfare

**Author's Notes (1-4-11): Favorite character poll is still up and, last time I checked, it has no votes! So if you will, please vote!**

**And for whatever reason, I couldn't get the document editor to save this with the chapter number and title in the center. So yeah.**

**

* * *

****Chapter 12**

**Moonlight Warfare**

The blaze of light behind him left Rend little time to calculate. But with simple reaction, he sprung to the side as Ghorlust slung himself clear over Rend's previous position. Rend flew around the side of a column and raised his gun to return the fight, but another aurora of reddish horror deterred his actions. Ghorlust had quickly swerved around and thrown out his wings, and in the second Rend had had to take inventory of his enemy, six spear-like projectiles had materialized and were now spiraling like preying dragons at his position. Putting his cover between him and his opponent, he leapt and sprinted away to avoid the onslaught.

He could hear the crashing impact of the energy blasts behind him, a flurry of wind catching up to him. Jumping about the loose piles of junk was a challenge, something that obviously posed no hindrance to his airborne foe. As he maneuvered the rubble, he sensed a more stable footing beneath. He swiftly jumped down and hid himself behind the steadier shield.

Clicking his firearm, he began charging another shot. He peered cautiously around the right side of his cover, trying to ascertain Ghorlust's flight path. He could be anywhere at this point. Seeing nothing of the sort, he turned to his other side.

"Boo."

A second later Ghorlust's visor found an offloaded charge shot point blank in its center. Rend's trigger finger had willingly responded to the threat, but Rend noticed quickly that he'd at best put an unnoticeable dent in the black sphere that housed the psuedoroid's eyes. "I envisioned that working better."

Ghorlust shook himself. "I'm sure you did."

Rend once again parried as his ghastly opponent now attempted to furl a large ball of energy, the result of all six tentacles focusing together, straight at him. It once again barely missed, but it proceeded to leave a nice hole in the ground, a sign showing how it could easily wreck Rend if it made contact.

Rend took off again, but Ghorlust arced over his position and quickly placed himself in Rend's way. "No no. I think not."

Frantically, Ghorlust began wild swings with his winged apparatuses in an attempt to batter his human prey. Rend sidestepped from right to left, successfully but barely avoiding the brute hits aimed at his head and chest.

Rend wasn't finding any opening. Ghorlust just wasn't letting him have any. In a measure of actual firepower, he was clearly outmatched given the current circumstances. Yet a battle strategy seemed distant from his mind; he was merely trying to survive at this point.

A racing lunge came from his attacker, and suddenly Rend found his left arm in a tentacle's vice grip. Shouting in pain, he was anything but slow in lifting his gun arm to take another shot. But in a split second before the gun fired, Ghorlust raised another tentacle and grasped the front of the weapon. Instead of unleashing another shot, a different and much more undesirable effect occurred: the gun's barrel practically melted itself and imploded.

Rend clenched his teeth. "Trash."

Rend felt anything but in control as Ghorlust hoisted him in the air. "Certainly you have a little more than that. I've come to expect so much more from you… hmhmm."

"What are you blubbering on about?"

"Nothing your befuddled mind can comprehend. So what now? Does it end here?"

"Not a chance!"

Taking the pseudoroid aback, Rend thrust himself back with all his weight, managing to dislodge Ghorlust from his place. Exerting all effort he possibly could, he half-threw the psuedoroid around his side. Rend managed to free his arm of the trap, but Ghorlust didn't even fall to the ground. He landed as if he had been performing an advanced aerial maneuver.

"Were you going somewhere with that?"

Rend tried to keep his demeanor straight, for he knew he'd prevailed in doing very little. "Of course."

"Well, when that starts working, let me know how it goes." Ghorlust took another grab at the human, but Rend was able to stay a step ahead and pull off a successful dodge. "Keep dancing, because it's about all you're good at now. It's only a matter of time before your human body tires and I overwhelm you in superior fashion."

With a screech, Ghorlust fired another one of his massive energy spheres, but this time it fell short. The result was a rushing whirlwind that raised a blinding cloud of dust and ash.

Despite Rend's best efforts, Ghorlust was becoming anything but hindered. Rend had exhausted what few options had shown themselves. Where did that leave him? Frustrated, without a firearm, and unable to provide little more than a distraction for Aura's escape. He hoped that she had managed to put some distance between herself and the fight.

Rend tried to pinpoint where the attack would come from. Either Ghorlust was calculating a finishing move or he simply wanted to flaunt his supposed "superiority" by letting Rend relish the suspense. Even if Rend was successful in locating the source, what good would it do him? Rend couldn't think of anything to do to keep from feeling so small.

"I can't let it end this way. But what can I…?" His sense dissolved from the situation around him, as his mind began to run amok inside. He was desperately trying to muster some contingency plan out of what little sanity he had left. "I don't know what else to do, but there must be an answer…" In the tumult of his mind, his memory floated to the one who he knew would've been able to handle the situation. "Sis…"

Oh, how stupid he'd been!

"Die!"

Ghorlust pierced the cloud like a cyclone, ready to fall upon his prey. But he was greeted with something much different than he anticipated! In rays of violets, a volley of scissoring strokes tore at him. Ghorlust still easily found his way past Rend, but not without several gashes in his tentacles. Ghorlust took a quick view of his condition. "Now that's not acceptable at all," He muttered disdainfully to himself.

Ghorlust looked back at his target. The dispensing by which the attack had come was displayed in the short beam of violet that protruded from Rend's hand: the dagger ofRend's sister.

Rend's confidence manifested itself undeniably in both his stare and speech. "Now we're in business."

"You've upgraded from rocks to sticks. I commend you, albeit with the lowest honor I can possibly scrape up from this pitiful landscape."

"How about less of this incoherent babbling of yours," Rend stanced himself. "More settling of this idiotic affair."

"Just remember it was you who just requested that, not me!"

Rend was ready. He felt his body had been rejuvenated, and more so. His heart was beating fasted; his blood seemed hotter and flowing faster. Adrenaline or no, he was prepared.

It had been over a year since he'd powered up the weapon, yet the experience was both fresh and familiar. It was as if one stroke with his weapon was all he needed. Instantly, he felt new and empowered by a phenomenon he couldn't explain.

Ghorlust howled, but Rend did not move. Not this time. Honed in, Rend easily dodged another half-dozen of the harpoon projectiles that Ghorlust sent at him. His feet carried him across the battlefield quickly to close the distance between him and his foe.

Ghorlust switched his position and prepared for a melee engagement. As Rend came in range, he attempted to forcefully put Rend into another tentacle vice grip. But as his wiry cloak lunged forward, Rend predicted the ruse and maneuvered himself below the attack. As he slid under the pseudoroid, an upward slash of his dagger brought two tentacles to an unattached state from their host.

Rend swiftly regained his feet and stood to face his enemy. As Ghorlust turned, he surveyed his severed machinery. "Hmph. Now this, Rend, is what I've come to expect from you."

"You say it like we've done this before." Rend challenged. "If we had, I'm sure I would've remembered mopping the floor with such an uncultured brute."

"Headstrong as ever, if not inconceivably arrogant." Undaunted as well, Ghorlust seized two large pieces of stone beside him with his remaining tentacles and heaved them at Rend. Rend was shocked to see the true strength of the otherwise slender arms, but nonetheless moved. He jumped to the side and leapt from the wall into the air and back towards Ghorlust. But he'd possibly been too hasty this time, for this time Ghorlust had another sphere of energy to meet his countermove.

Rend tried to block as best he could with his dagger. Eatinga near full blow, Rend shot backwards through the dusty air. He made a hard impact with the scathed ground below him, but after a few tumbles managed to get his feet underneath him. It stung like all get out and the seared marks on his clothes showed it, but he had little time for recovery, as he found himself bounding backwards in an attempt to keep the crazed Ghorlust from landing right on top of him.

The pseudoroid was relentless, and the last few moves served to show Rend that the monster was still full of surprises. Yet Rend wouldn't give in. Ghorlust made energetic jab after jab, but Rend parried, jabbing at him with his dagger. With each connection, he felt his pulse rise. It didn't matter if victory was mere fantasy; he intended to make it solid reality for his vile oppressor.

"You just don't want to die!" Ghorlust yelled, his voice oddly mixed of irritation and amusement. "But as much as I hate things to become drawl, the time I intended to spend here has almost expired."

"You can fall by my hands or flee." Rend rattled off confidently, a steady resolution unfading from his expressions. He'd been up for hours, yet he was feeling better than he had when everything had started earlier when he awoke. Everything was clear and sharp. He had gone from feeling exhausted to feeling unstoppable in a matter of minutes. He couldn't explain it, but it was as if he could feel something pumping raw energy into him. As such, he was ready to back his words. "Take your pick."

"You presume far too much." Abruptly, Ghorlust jumped back and began to charge up for another assault of flying projectiles. Rend was prepared to evade, but he found once again that Ghorlust was too smart to keep using the same tricks. Instead, the psuedoroid screeched as he launched the energy spears skyward towards the second floor of the building.

Rend realized his intent quickly as the projectiles made forceful impact with the ruin above. A rain of crumbling metal and debris began to descendon Rend's position.

It was a different story to fight off half-ton ruin as opposed to beating back a movable machine. Rend quickly scanned for an escape, but heaps of rubble were already to his side. There was no time to look behind, so despite the one-being blockade to his front, he bravely advanced forward. He had every intention of charging Ghorlust, but his opponent wasn't about to give him that luxury. Instead, Ghorlust furled another massive energy ball point-blank at the human. Rend had to react fast. Another split-second scan brought into his vision a pillar to the left. Leaping out of the way, he planted a strong foot into the pillar and ascended above the projectile.

But it had been a move in an undesirable direction, for Rend also succeeded in bringing the ruinous storm closer to his head. He twisted in the air, but he'd already committed to the maneuver.

A wave of dust flew forth. Ghorlust gleamed as the attack fell to the earth, creating a mess of clouds that's portrayed the demolition he craved. "How unfortunate for the little human. Slightly disappointing to watch someone so renowned go down for good, but alas…" Ghorlust moved towards the pile to seek out his prize. "The thrill of the hunt pushes forward. There is little time for—what?"

Ghorlust could've keeled over. To his utter disbelief, Rend had not only evaded the attack, but he was perched clean on the peak of the pile! "That's… how is that even…?"

But Rend was just as surprised, and his current position confused himself as well. Whatever he'd done, he hadn't anticipated on making it out the way he did.

"How did you do that?" Ghorlust inquired fiercely, eyes widening.

Rend paused before answering, unsure of which stance to take on the matter. "As if I'd answer that."

"Well, impracticalities aside, you won't be getting another chance like that!"

Ghorlust flew at him once more. Rend was about ready to return the favor, when suddenly he recoiled. His dagger was no longer in his hand! Had he lost his grip on it in the chaos? Perhaps it was but within a few feet of reach, but there was no time. Ghorlust was practically on top of him.

Blast! To have struggled so valiantly, just to let a simple mistake ruin him! Rend braced for the impact as Ghorlust soared directly at him. Come what may, he was about to take it.

With great force Ghorlust made a crashing blast.

And suddenly everything unraveled yet the more differently than expected.

Ghorlust had not hit Rend. In fact, Ghorlust seemed to have vanished! But where? Rend pivoted about to his rear, and he saw that Ghorlust had slammed into a tall heap of the rubble he had previously dislodged from above.

"What? What?" Ghorlust stammered in a limper position. "But you were just—"

The statement remained unfinished, for the blow had rendered unsteady the rubble above Ghorlust. To his continued shock and distaste, it moaned loudly as it dropped heavily down unto the pseudoroid, burying him almost completely.

By no means did Ghorlust's shock overshadow Rend's. Rend saw the pseudoroid go down, yet could hardly believe it. He should have, given the circumstances that led to his safety, but he had his reasons. "So apparently the laws of physics don't apply anymore either." He clearly had seen Ghorlust coming straight at him. "What just happened…?"

"It's a technique termed the shadow dash."

Rend started slightly. Someone had spoken behind him, and he might've thrown a stab in the dark with nought but his fist had he been so inclinced. But this voice was strikingly different than anything else he'd heard. It was calm and didn't seem to convey any alarm, and the reverb it possessed was uncanny. Only one way to identify the source; cautiously, he turned to his backside.

For what it was worth, he'd had his fill of surprises, but this one trumped them all. Instead of seeing a person, reploid, or mechaniloid, what he saw was totally different. It was a new enigma in the midst of all that had met his eyesight thus far.

Now, right in front of him and speaking to him, was a floating piece of purple metal.

Rend was exasperated. "You know, I'm just waiting for someone to slap me and wake me from this unbelievable absurdity."

The object said nothing at first. It appeared to be contemplating. "Certainly you do not deny the solidity of all you've experienced thus far."

"I'm talking to a piece of metal!" Rend exclaimed. "So why don't you offer a reasonable explanation to that?"

"I am not merely a piece of metal." The object drew closer to Rend. "I am the one that houses the power of the shadow Megaman. I am Biometal Model P."


	13. Blindsided

**Chapter 13**

**Blindsided**

"I am Biometal Model P."

A person who was well learned in the ways of ancient biometal technology surely would've flew into an enthralled fit or dropped their jaw. But of course, Rend was not such a person, and therefore it was nothing more than another piece of mysteriousness that didn't fit with any of the other puzzle pieces.

"Sure you are," Rend said as casually as he possibly could. "So where've you been?"

"In a state of deep dormancy… I believe most recently on your person, if I'm not mistaken."

Wait… could it be? Rend quickly fumbled his fingers through the outside and inside of his coat. Was this the biometal thing he'd been carrying around from the lab? He took a closer look at the metallic object, and quickly noticed that—yes!—it was indeed the same item he'd taken from the Biolife facility!

"You're… Model P?"

"So you have heard of me."

"Actually, no. Never before today, anyway."

"It makes no difference." Model P stated, not seeming to mind. "What you just performed was a shadow dash."

"A what?"

"The shadow dash is an advanced maneuver that temporarily renders the molecular structure of the host permeable, and thus intangible."

Rend gripped his head. "Look, it's been one mess of a day. Can you speak a bit more straightforward?"

"The specifics are beside the point anyway. What matters is that you just tapped my power. By implication then, you are a Chosen One."

Rend groaned at another unfamiliar term. "I don't have time for this."

"You clearly don't understand, which is to be expected. I've been asleep for nearly half a century now. My power has been sealed within, unused by humans for a very long time, at least according to my internal systems. It doesn't surprise me that my identity has slipped into the darkness over time."

"So then why did you choose to awake now?"

"I didn't. I cannot awaken myself from a hibernation so deep. But you, by pulling from my strength, have brought me out of my long slumber." Model P stopped again. It appeared as if it was surveying the scene around him. "It would appear that I have been awakened because my power is once again in need. This point in time for my awakening was to be anticipated, given my purpose. Although this is all foreign to you…"

Another pause. "I shall put it this way. It is clear I have been awoken in a time of great peril. From what I can perceive, you are combating a great evil that threatens all." The biometal rose a couple inches higher. "Do you wish to preserve that which is dear to you?"

Rend was taken aback. "In… a manner of speaking, I suppose. But what are you getting at?"

"You are clearly a next generation Chosen One, as evidenced by your abilities in utilizing my powers. You are the one I am bonded to… we are each other's biomatch. It is your duty to take upon yourself the force which resides within me, to dispel the chaos that has cast a dark veil over your land.

Rend's mind was trying to catch up. He was in no position to process everything he was hearing. "This is nothing but senseless nonsense to me. My duty?"

A sudden noise to the rear caught Rend's attention. Apparently Ghorlust wasn't completely beaten through just yet; he was beginning to struggle free of the mess on top of him.

"There is no more time to discuss these matters. The details can come later." Model P spoke quickly. He was still calm, but his voice was resolute. It was apparent he was set on his next move. Rend suddenly felt a connection with the biometal, as if they were mirroring one another's intentions. "Simply know this. My duty is that of the human race and its protection and preservation. My alliance lies with you." The biometal approached Rend confidently. "My power is yours to use."

With a curdling scream, Ghorlust emerged from his own trap. He looked battered in, but was far from ready to quit. "You little…?" Ghorlust paused. "Is that… biometal? You can use biometal?" The pseudoroid hissed. "Where did you get that, and how is it even possible for you to use it? As if you weren't enough of a show-off already."

"Wait, my dagger!" Rend proclaimed, suddenly remembering his weapon. He hurriedly began searching for his weapon, but Model P quickly intervened.

"There's no need for that. My power will suffice."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Pfft, you clearly have no understanding of the finer things in life." Ghorlust mocked. "You stumble upon a great boon and you don't even know what to do with it. Fah! Your newfound powers cannot help you now. You are still a dead man!"

Rend moved quickly as Ghorlust threw another volley of melee strikes at him. "Fine then!" Rend shouted impatiently. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Unite with my power." Model P began. "Call upon the power of the—"

"Yeah yeah! Just get in the biometal port or whatever it is you're supposed to do!"

"The what? I don't understand."

"You're joking right?" Rend was flying from side to side as Ghorlust kept up his approach.

"Technology has more than likely advanced since my last activation. Perform the necessary procedure."

It was an invitation to do that which he was totally unfamiliar with, but Rend tried nonetheless. He grabbed the dark purple biometal and shoved it into place under his gauntlet. "Now what?" Model P remained silent. "Yeah, of course not."

"Attempt the merging process. It's a simple—"

"Right!" Rend made one more backwards leap and stanced himself. Ghorlust eyed the human with insatiable spite.

"This farce has gone on long enough, Rend. What say you we end this drawn-out ordeal?"

"More than willing!" Rend threw out his arm. It was all or nothing at this point. "Bioframe system, engage biometal protocol!" He was more or less shouting random things that sounded right based on his limited knowledge of the bioframe coding, but it was better than nothing at all. "Commence with biomerge sequence! Combine! Unite! Blast it all, do something!"

_"Protocol engaged. Beginning merge procedures…"_

Ghorlust watched as the Bioframe on Rend began to glow. He hesitated, unsure whether or not to keep up his attack. Rend nodded. "Are you ready for this, Ghorlust? I have no idea what's about to happen, but I have a feeling it isn't going to be anything beneficial to you!" Rend watched as his bioframe lit up in ways he'd never seen before. "Let's see just what this thing can—"

And then it all ended painfully short.

Rend suddenly erupted into an agonizing yell as his body seemed to crumble from within. His bioframe had gone from pulsing violet to flashing red violently.

_"WARNING! WARNING! CRITICAL ERROR! MALEVOLENT CODING DETECTED! INCOMPATIBILITY DETECTED! VIRUS… MALEVOLECE… FOBDDEN… ERROR… ERR… CRIT… EVSS2I..."_

"HA!" Ghorlust shrieked. "That's it? That's your big finale? THIS? What cruel humor! After all of this, just to find out you're a lie!"

Rend gasped for his breath. He felt like his insides had been incinerated. If Model P was still active, it wasn't saying anything. Rend tried to rise, but his limbs just wouldn't work. Something had gone terribly wrong. His head throbbed and his joints ached fiercely. Moving was next to impossible as Ghorlust came to a halt right in front of him.

"You should've submitted while you had the chance. Instead, you carried on like a clueless tramp. To think that I actually thought you might accumulate to something of value. But your disappointment is nothing new.

"Ghorlust..." Rend managed to form the word in his labored breath.

"You have failed." Ghorlust kneeled down by the now frail human. "You've failed the world. You've failed the girl. And… you've failed your little friend."

"NO!"

In one last burst of bravado, Rend sprung up and sent his fist smashing into the face of Ghorlust. The combined force of one last rush of adrenaline and Rend's furor was enough to send the pseudoroid to the ground in front of him.

Mustering everything he had left, he managed to get to his feet. His one hand was now bleeding from the knuckles, but he did not even begin to notice the pain. "You savage pile of circuits!" Rend shuffled weakly but solemnly forward. "Be a jerk! Act high and mighty! Carry on like you're the king of the whole blasted planet!" Rend came to pseudoroid, fell to his knees, and seized Ghorlust wherever his hands could find a grip. "But you tell me right now! What happened to him? What's happened to Ghar? ANSWER ME NOW!"

"Ignorant whelp!"

Forcefully Rend was propelled off of Ghorlust and back to the rough earth. What exacly had hit him, he had no idea. He managed to keep from completely falling over, but Ghorlust was now getting back on his own feet now. That's when Rend saw the damage he'd done to the visor.

"That's… that's—not—possible!"

Tentacles ferociously seized him and pinned him against the wall. Rend once again found himself grasping for any air he could get. As he struggled, his eyes locked with that of Ghorlust. But half his visor was now gone, so his appearance was much different. To the right he stared into the eye of Ghorlust, and to the left…

He found his other eye locked with that of another human: Ghar.

"You've pushed your nose a little too far in, Rend. You should've quit while you were ahead, namely when all your head was still nicely perched atop the rest of your flesh hull."

"This is..." Rend reeled. "Ghorlust! You…!"

"You can't even come to grips that it's me. Then again, I suppose that is only half-truth. Rather, Ghar and Ghorlust are the same intertwined being. Half human, half pseudoroid. We are now united by the power of biomerge!"

Streams of data began to surround Ghorlust's wounds as both red eyes bore into its human captive. "It's beautiful, isn't it? The enigma of biomerge, the most incredible power ever invisioned by us! You thought you'd seen it all up to this point, but now you've witnessed its true potential. The minds of a human and a pseudoroid merged into one mind-blowing masterpiece!"

Rend was helpless to stop the beast from ripping the purple biometal from Rend's frame. "What ancient trash! This world has no need for such outdated technology!" He proceeded to whip the biometal clean out of sight. "Who needs such trivial toys when you can join the bliss of our ranks… the ecstasy of fusion with a mechaniloid or psuedoroid counterpart!"

"I'll… destroy you! I'll tear Ghar right from your—"

"Ghar and I are united. You can't change that now. You've failed to keep him from this, and now you will pay the consequences… although I haven't really done anything Ghar didn't already want. All things considered, I think we compliment each other quite well. I don't think he'd disagree at all!"

"Dirt-rusted liar!" Rend would've continued, but his body was thrust even harder against the wall as six freshly repaired tentacles put tremendous pressure against him. Rend's vision was fading, but he could see clearly enough to see the final repair occur about the visor of the pseudoroid, the ebon nothingness lined with red obscuring once again his friend's face.

"I do consider it a bit of a shame to watch you die. You did serve your purpose for Ghar… but he no longer has any need of you, and nor do I!"

"You will… never…" Rend fought back unconsciousness, trying not to cough up all the dust that had collected in the back of his throat. His body was slowing down, and everything he'd been suppressing during the fight was now rearing it's head. "You… Ghar will… overcome you. We all will. You cannot… will not… see victory!"

"It's time you woke up, you blinded excuse for a child!" Ghorlust's visor and body began to take on an alarmingly overwhelming surge of red. His maw began to part as a low roar began to escalate in volume. "You took your distance from the world, and now you are seeing the ends of all that you've been missing. You have no one left, because you never had anyone to begin with! But alas, because I doubt any will miss you… out of courtesy, Ghar and I offer you this last parting regard… good-bye."

Ghorlust's mechanical mouth, as if a cavernous crater, fell on Rend.

Blackness.


	14. Fragmented Memories

**Author's Notes: Busy, busy, busy! But alas, I've finally got another chapter for you all! So enjoy. Oh, and vote in the favorite character poll too. There are still no votes!**

**Oh yeah, and the chapter title and stuff still doesn't want to stay centered after I save. Why? Oh well...**

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* * *

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**Chapter 14**

**Fragmented Memories**

"All right! I'm looking for a man by the grand name of Rend! Any takers?"

Rend was unflinching as he watched someone make a boisterous entrance into the lobby. It appeared that Rend was going unnoticed when the man gave him an inquiring look. "You the one they call Rend?"

"First off, I don't have a clue who 'they' is." Rend took a quick glance around the room. He'd been the only one in it for the past ten minutes. "And if you're looking for the new employee, and I'm the only one here… you can do the math."

"Aah… a wise guy, aren't ya'?"

"Just get on with it. Are you the guy who's giving me the rundown of my duties?"

"Why yes, that would be me."

"Great." Rend rose from his seat and approached him, his step sort of mechanical. "And you are?"

"Ghar, the company's sense of humor."

Rend proceeded only to blankly stare straight ahead, as if he was looking straight through the loud human. "Wonderful."

"OK, OK. I get it. I don't seem like very much, do I? A guy comes in and is all razzle-dazzle but its all just cheap glitter at the end of the day, right? Well, I'll have you know something, o skeptic one…" Ghar flung an impressive looking knife from his pocket and caught it midair. "You won't find another guy in this whole place who can work these puppies better than I can. I guarantee it."

He then proceeded to reveal the blade of the knife, its sheen a pristine silver. Seemingly it was very impressive to look at, but Rend gave it only a few second before speaking his mind. "And yet you have it coated like that."

"Wait, what?" Ghar was taken aback. "What could you possibly be talking about?"

"Don't play stupid with me. It's coated with a silver film or… I don't know, it's some cheap silver coating. Makes it look like splendid eye candy but ultimately has a negative effect on the blade's ability to cut. But yet you consider yourself the expert?"

Ghar gave Rend a hearty glare, though his sly smile remained. "Well now, maybe I've underestimated you."

"I get that a lot."

"But how's this for the kicker: what if I told you this was the company's brand spankin' new experiment?"

Rend paused and thought for a moment. "You're bluffing."

"No sir! This is actually supposed to help the knife! Positive effects! Looks nicer and still cuts the same if not better! How's that for a counterattack?"

Ghar eyed Rend, eagerly awaiting his response. Rend merely shrugged, not too upset over the misjudgment. Ghar took notice, and decided as well it might be best to tone his energy down a touch.

"Hehe… you know what? I like you. I like you quite a bit!"

"What bliss."

Ghar laughed, quite obnoxiously from Rend's point of view. "You and I… we'd make a great pair. With your natural talent and my inside information, we could climb the ladder in this place at breakneck speed. What do you say? You and I, watching each other's backs? We'd be unstoppable! Well? Seriously man, say something."

A solemn silence followed as Rend seemingly pondered a response. Ghar was about to prod him when he saw him move. "How many people have you given that speech to?"

Surprisingly, Ghar beamed with confidence. "Only one."

"Tell ya' what." Rend quickly followed up. "How 'bout you give me everything I need to know to do my job, I'll do it, and you can carry on with plan A while I pretend I don't care."

"Are you really pretending?"

"For the most part."

"Which means a small part does care!" Ghar signaled his approval with a thumbs-up. "I'll take it."

Rend, against his typical character, released from within a very faint smile as he rolled back his eyes. "Superb."

"Amazing! Glad I can lend my services!" With confidence, he approached Rend and placed his hand on Rend's shoulder. Rend's face instantly went back to normal as he glanced at the hand.

"Don't ever touch me."

"Too late! I already am."

* * *

"He's coming to."

The voice he heard sounded groggy and distorted. Everything was a grayish fuzz in front of his eyes. Rend tried something of a fidget, but his body ached in a way he'd never felt before. Trying to look at anything was dizzying, but he could faintly make out the silhouette of another figure. Who or what it was was incomprehensible in his current state.

"Life readings stable. I'm going to begin the next set of tests…"

As Rend fought off the senseless wave that gripped his mind, slowly he began to form questions in his mind. What had happened? Where was he? Furthermore, how did he get here? His mind lacked any answers, but he still had a sense of alarm that made him leery of his present situation…

Wait, what if… what if Ghorlust had delivered him to Biolife? What if he was now under their custody? Was he in a prison? A lab? Were they getting ready to experiment on him?

No answers came save one: get out.

His body seared inside as he shot up straight from where he was laying and practically jumped to the floor. The other figure in the room seemed to jump back, startled by his sudden movement. He began to move forward, moving towards whatever escape he could fine. He was dead set on not letting anyone stop him this time!

But it didn't pan out the way he planned. Suddenly, something gripped him from behind, and in a matter of seconds his body went limp all over again and Rend collapsed, unconscious.

Another figure stood over top of him. "He won't give up. I can certainly give him that…"

The other character approached. "That was… frightening. Do you think we should tie him down?"

"Nah, he doesn't have that much kick in him. I'll stay here and make sure it doesn't happen again."

The one looked on with concern as the other put Rend back down on the bed. "I certainly hope you didn't injure him further."

"He'll be fine. Trust me."

"Well, all the same, I'm glad you were here to keep that under control. You have my thanks, uh… oh dear, don't tell me…"

The response was a shaking of the head. "My name is Vex, but honestly, don't worry about it."

"Sorry, I'm still getting everyone's name down."

"It's to be… expected. When you have such an influx of people come to you for medical attention, you have more important things to concern yourself over."

"Well, I'll get it right one of these times."

Vex took another look at Rend, then at the female reploid, and then at the room they were situated in. Its walls were made of a concrete-like material that was also cracking. "You all certainly chose a nice place to set up camp."

"This is the basement of the hospital. I can operate much more efficiently from here." The female, who appeared to be a nurse by her long white clothing, put her hand on Rend's face, noting the scratches and bruises she could see. She scracthed her own head then, slightly moving her white nurse's cap and synthetic violet hair. "I'm surprised, to be honest. He looks like he went through quite the thrashing."

"According to Taylor and the others, he was in pretty bad shape when they found—"

Suddenly, the doors of the room burst open as another female came rushing in. "Sable! Sable!"

"Goodness! You do realize that you could've easily thrown that door off its hinges, right?"

"That's news to you?" Vex remarked.

"Quiet Hotshot! Never mind that. Is he awake?"

"Taylor, calm down!" Another man exclaimed from behind, older in appearance. "We've talked about this tendency of yours. Listen to your authority's advice and behave!"

"Behave? What are you talking about?" Before the older male had a chance to answer, Taylor had already moved on. "So Sable! How is he?"

"He's fine. Absolutely fine… I mean, sort of. He'll live, if that's what you mean."

"You're positive, right? He looks thoroughly destroyed! Look at him!"

"You underestimate him."

The group turned blank stares at Vex. "None of you have obviously seen what he's been through in the last couple days. He may not have passed every test with flying colors, but he's hardy enough. So all of you relax."

"You're just saying that because you assume he's built like you," Taylor quickly pointed out.

"He is most certainly not built like me. I assure you of that. But he's not mechaniloid scrap either."

"Look, can we focus here?" The other adult gave an irritated look to the veteran.

"…did you need something?"

"No, not from you. Your job is to handle the defenses, as I delegated to you. My matters are of a different importance. Sable!"

The nurse jumped slightly at the call. "What? Yes, Mr. Valian?"

"What did the tests show?"

She suddenly became nervous. "The tests?"

"The results of the test? We need to know immediately!" The elusive urgency flowing from the man seemed to pollute the whole room with anxiety. "Well? Does he have the Z-Virus?"

The next few moments of silence that came seemed to spell out guilty sentences. All eyes were on Sable, especially those of Vex. "Well, although my tests are not completely finished, and the final result is not entire, the conclusion I've drawn—"

"He doesn't have it."

Mr. Valian threw a bewildered look at Vex. "I don't recall asking you."

"We were discussing it earlier. So, to be to the point and to avoid all the fancy medical terms, I'll give you the concise answer: he doesn't have it."

Although Vex was by no measure of the word a doctor, the answer seemed to satisfy. "Well, good then. This place needs to remain free of that wretched vileness at all costs. For our safety, that is the number one priority. Under no circumstances whatsoever are we going to allow that to corrupt our safe haven!"

"I get it. No Z-Virus. You can stop now."

"Well, I for one am relieved." Taylor finally let out a smile. "Wouldn't want to see our boy here bite the dust!"

No one seemed to notice that Sable didn't share the same assumption, but she took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. "Look, I need all of you to clear out now. Rend needs his rest, free of interruption."

"Oh c'mon, he's so out as it is."

"So you enjoy talking to unresponsive people?" Vex retorted.

"Oh whatever! Are you sure you don't need any help? I could get my sisters on the job too, if need be."

"No no. I won't be needing any such thing. You and your sisters have been through quite a bit yourselves, so I want you all to take it easy. Understand me? You are hearing this, right Taylor?"

"Yeah, I heard ya'. Come to think of it, I have been feeling a little tired lately…"

Mr. Valian sunk his head down into his left palm. "Taylor, I can't help but think you find this recent turn of events to be exciting."

Taylor's immediate reply to her father started with a roll of the eyes. "Oh please. I'm fine! We all are! We'll make it through this! Just watch us! I'll prove it!"

"Taylor! That's enough! For crying out loud, you're sisters never give me this trouble!"

Taylor smiled deviously. "It just means I love you more, father dear!"

"Oh, forget it. Just come now before you drive Sable insane."

Not without great effort, Mr. Valian shooed his daughter out of the room. Vex grunted. "What a handful that man has to deal with."

Sable quietly laughed, finding relief in her amusement of the young girl. "She's so upbeat. That's not an easy thing to keep in all of this. Regardless…" She's turned her attention back to Vex, her expression venting the worry she'd hidden. "I should've told them."

"You will not tell them Rend has the virus."

"You're not… threatening me, are you?"

"It is neither a threat or a request." Vex's visage was that of a stone statue. "It is simply a command. No one is to know that Rend has the Z-Virus."

* * *

The scene was a large closed room with humanoids on one side. On the other, their blasters were trained on moving targets. The sounds of gunshot streaming from point to point across the room made the expanse sound like something of a warzone.

A reploid, safely seated on a crate off to the side, watched with great uninterest. "Mm-hmm… ballistic targeting appears to be functioning correctly. What else is stuck on this grunt list? Melee functionality? Omnidroid overall analysis? Seriously, why can't we get the research gurus out here to test all this? I'd just as well do all the combat myself then submit myself to this…"

"I take it you like your work, Commander Nova."

The reploid didn't so much as look up from the datapad he was using. "Star, I hope you didn't come in here just to make snide remarks."

"I also take it you aren't having a pleasant day."

"What can you expect?" Without so much as a second thought, the reploid casually chucked the datapad across the floor and gave Star a disgruntled look. "First the lab incident, and now I'm stuck running this dull show. All that, and that biometal is still at large!"

"And yet you've chosen this over recovering the artifact? Highly uncharacteristic, Commander."

"I have to get this done or else HQ will eat my ear off. And of course, I can't tell them the biometal has been stolen or that will cause all the more of a rampage! So ultimately, I just need to do everything to keep the head honcho's nose out of my business for awhile. So as you can see, my day is going very bad, thank you very much!" With every sentence, Nova was yelling louder, but began to quiet at he became accusatory. "Of course, I don't see you having much room to talk… you let the perpetrator slip right through your grasp without so much as lifting a finger to stop him!"

"In all fairness, you didn't give any detail over the biometal theft, as clearly stated before."

"Look, all I know is that we need to get it back. We'll find the brat, retrieve our prize, and no one will ever know the wiser. But listen to myself…" Nova took a second to regain himself. "Tell me you had a reason for coming to speak to me."

"Repairs have progressed well. Basic functionality has been restored, so he should be conscious."

"Wonderful. Best news all day, unfortunately. Let's go have a little chat with him then…" Nova gladly made haste for the doorway Star had come through, and Star took up step behind him. "Another wonderful masterpiece by Star. I thought you said this pseudoroid-human thing was supposed to work wonders."

"Despite positive testing, this was really the first trial run of the program. We'll gain better insight, however, to the successes and failures of this mission by speaking directly to him."

"I just don't get it, Star. How do one or two humans defeat something of that magnitude in power—one that was even under your direct supervision?"

Star had nothing direct to say about the accusations, but maintained his position. "We'll find out soon enough."

Star stepped in front as they approached a tightly sealed door. Reaching his hand out for the security pad, he swiftly input the according clearance code. A small light shifted from red to green, and the door opened and allowed the two to enter.

Repair mechaniloids were gathered around a figure, hoisted in the upright position in some sort of large repair mechanism. Star and Nova walked forward, Nova shoving one of the mechaniloids out of his way. Star glanced up at the visor of the figure. "Ghorlust."

Red flickered on the visor. "Master Star."

"How do you feel? Repairs are progressing smoothly from your point of view, hm?"

"I should say so. I won't know until I can walk on my own two feet again."

"Very good. But enough with the pleasantries; Commander Nova and I have more pressing issues with which to discuss."

"Ah yes, Commander Nova." The eyes shifted slightly as they focused on the skeptical-looking reploid. "I do offer my sincerest apologies for the circumstances under which we are meeting. Please—"

"Spare me." Nova curtly cut him off. "Just start answering my questions. How? How in blazes did you get this way? And yeah, give me your best shot, because I doubt that even the most well-crafted sob story is going to get you out of the deep water you're in."

"I will lay none of my words with deceit. I will simply tell all as it was." Ghorlust effectively paused. "The duel between me and the gray-haired human had progressed in my favor."

"Gray-haired?" Nova repeated. "Describe him further."

"Purple clothing… sunglasses… red bioframe…"

"Star, does that sound like one of the humans you encountered?"

"Indeed, that matched the male's profile entirely." Star replied.

Nova then grimaced at the memory of the lab thief. "He was one of the two who possibly had the biometal."

"He was the one with the biometal." Ghorlust confirmed. "In fact, he attempted to use it."

"He what?"

"He failed. Whether it was because he was not a Chosen One or it was simply a mismatch with his bioframe, I could not say. Either way, the critical error on his part left him incredibly vulnerable, so I went in to finish him. The scales had tipped in my favor again, but then…"

"Then what?" Nova eyed the psuedoroid piercingly. "Out with it."

"That's when someone else attacked me."

There was silence as the previous statement mulled over in the hearers' heads. "Someone else?" Nova rolled his eyes. "You mean, you just let another measly human get the drop on you? I don't care if it was the military commando freak, that's just—"

"Commander, this one was much different than any human I'd seen."

Nova stopped, surprisingly caught off guard. Star gave his minion an intrigued look. "Explain."

"The figure was clad in purple and yellow. A split red cape and a white facemask were also a part of their apparel. As for their method of attack, it came in the form of kunai and shuriken. The perpetrator was something of a ninja, or so it seemed."

"What in… you have to be kidding me. You expect me to buy that piece of—"

"Wait a minute, Commander." Star came to the defense of the psuedoroid. Nova looked over and saw Star scanning information through a special visor device. "This… could be serious."

"What are you talking about...?"

"Judging by the description he gave me, everything matches up with former users of Model P."

"That's… Star, what are you suggesting?"

"It is an… alarming relation. Are you sure this human didn't use the biometal?"

"That's… actually quite strange. Combing back through my sensor readings, there was no indication of any biometal signatures other than the momentary signal that was a result of the human's failed attempt. I would've picked it up had he made a second successful attempt, as you are aware that my systems are equipped to pick up such things. As for the one who attacked me, I picked up no such traces."

"Well, nothing else you've said has made any sense." Nova began to pace the length of the room, trying to sort things out. "How do we know your sensors didn't malfunction in the attack?"

"The biometal would've been activated before the attack began, Commander." Star pointed out.

"And are you sure his equipment was up to snuff?"

"Certainly."

"But what about—blast it, Star! None of this even remotely comes to anything feasible!"

Nova glared at Star, waiting for answers. Star hesitated, unsure of how to reply to his superior. Nova's eyes seemed to peel at Star, trying to unearth an answer that wasn't concretely there. "Commander Nova… I understand that you have acted with certain priorities in mind. However, if there is a potential threat of biometal falling into a Chosen's hands… even if the chances are slim… we should alert HQ immediately."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Star! First, you know as well as I do that no Chosen Ones exist in the general public. I don't have to explain that one to you, as you are aware of the circumstances surrounding that. Second, if there were no signatures read, then the biometal was never merged with a host. Pure and simple. Everything's under control, so no need to send the big guns into an unnecessary panic!"

"Excuse my brashness, Commander, but if there is any rhyme or reason to any of this, the whole project could be in jeopardy. I would ask that you reconsider."

"You wouldn't dare go behind my back, would you Star?"

Star knew what his next answer was. "No Commander."

"So we have someone who supposedly can't merge but supposedly had the potential to, and someone with supposedly no potential to but took on biometal form anyway. What a crazy day."

"How do you wish to proceed?"

"Set the scanners to track down anymore biometal signatures. If there are any more attempts at using Model P, I want to know. That way, we can trace it to the source and find our target."

"Understood. I'll go set up the system right now."

Nova followed Star out the door, leaving the psuedoroid back in its relative solitude. While Star broke off to accomplish his task, Nova simply began to wander the halls. He seemed uninterested in getting back to his other jobs.

"Hmph. Don't think you've won. You may have managed to pull some good fortune out of your empty skulls this once, but that won't carry you far enough. Mark my words, I'll be on you faster than madman Reaver to the kill. And when I find you, you'll wish you'd been buried under this stink heap than what you'll get to wallow in!"


	15. Sibling Bonds

**Chapter 15**

**Sibling Bonds**

Rend unwillingly sipped at the hot beverage he'd been given by the nurse. He wasn't even sure what it was… a tea, perhaps? He'd never drank it before, so such an identification was beyond himself anyway. He looked down at the scatter of green vegetables and the small pieces of barely-cooked meat on a plate before him, something else he had no appetite for at the moment. Yet the nurse had told him he needed to eat and put some nourishment into his system.

When he had come to after his first ordeal in the room, Sable had given him a good report... omitting the obvious, of course. His physical wounds would heal up and be just fine, though they might ache for awhile. He just needed to rest and get some food into his system was all. But his stomach seemed to just hang in his gut, and he was more preoccupied with his wheeling mind.

Vex had asked for an explanation of the events surrounding Ghar's rescue, and Rend was so exhausted physically and mentally that he just sort of blurted it all out. Vex listened intently, and he seemed to draw concern to his face when he heard about Ghar and Ghorlust. Whether it was because of Ghar's imprisonment or because of the prospect of having to fend off psuedoroids, Rend didn't know. Either way, it was still a concern, and after he had finished, Vex had simply nodded and left him with Sable.

Sable had left to attend to some other patients. Now that he was by himself, his compressed feelings over the whole issue seemed to bloat within him. He didn't pound his fist or cry any tears… he wasn't even sure how to feel. He didn't even know he'd cared so intensely about Ghar, not even when he had been fighting Ghorlust. Not that it seemed to matter now… what was he going to do about it? He could've repeated the whole blasted thing and it probably would've made little difference. Per the pseudoroid's explanation, to defeat Ghorlust was to defeat Ghar. How do you fight that? Certainly there was another way, he thought, but his mind was beginning to give way to the reality of impossibilities. Maybe he really wasn't capable of saving the world like he wanted to. Maybe Vex was right. And maybe, he really was a failure… incapable of living up to the name of his…

The door creaked on its rusting hinges as someone entered the room. Out of the corner of his eye, Rend noticed it wasn't Sable, and pretended not to take interest. However, the blonde hair ended up piquing his attitude slightly. "Aura."

"Hey." She uttered softly as she carried something of a sweeter aroma. "I found something I thought you might like. Its harder to make it given our resources, but I managed to make you some hot co-"

"Never mind that." Rend didn't even consider how rude he'd just sounded, but given his how he acted under good conditions that wasn't unusual. "I was hoping you'd be all right. You got away all right?"

"Oh, why yes. My head is still on my shoulders, thanks to you."

"Hardly. If you haven't noticed, I was smacked around pretty hard." Rend stopped. "Come to think of it, I don't even know I managed to escape all of it. Ghorlust was seconds from killing me."

Aura gave a quick shrug. "Yeah…"

"But like I'm any use now. I couldn't even save Ghar. And that biometal thing was a total flop too. And then…" Rend fought back surfacing regret. "I lost my sister's dagger."

"Ah! Rend, I…" Aura jumped up, and began to dig into her long jacket. Moments later, she pulled out a cylindrical object and dropped it in the male's lap.

Rend could've leapt out of his bed. "Aura, that's—how?" Lo and behold, it was nothing other than his dagger. Another astonishing feat, it seemed.

"Oh? Well, I found it in the wreckage. No problem at all!"

"But Aura, how's that possible? I lost it a good way into the fight. How did you come upon it so easily?"

"Um… uh, I'm a good finder."

Rend could've shot her another confused look, but given he had his dagger back, he didn't. "Aura, this is such an important thing to me. Thanks."

Aura gazed at the dagger with intrigue. "Did you say… your sister's? Do you have a sister?"

Rend flinched. His sister was such a personal part of him, something he cherished within. It most certainly was not something he talked freely about with others. He wasn't even sure if Ghar had known he had a sister, though he might have briefly mentioned it. Simply hoping to defuse the conversation, he bluntly stated, "Yes, but she's no longer alive."

He saw a bit of remorse come about Aura's eyes. "That's so sad. What happened to her?"

Rend remained silent. Aura quickly began to realize she'd perhaps overstepped her limits. She was about to try and cover up the topic when someone much more boisterously entered the room.

"Good morning, Shades!"

Taylor. The bouncing fountain of energy that Rend wasn't in the mood for. Her quieter sister, Hanna, entered in behind. At least she wouldn't make too much noise, he thought, but still.

"So, you ready and kicking to get back at it?"

"Sis, give him some breathing room." Hanna quietly spoke, almost nervously. "He's just recovered. Not even completely. Be a little more considerate, ya' know?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. Look, just wanted to rouse your spirits. It ain't fun sittin' in a bed all day."

Rend mulled over his next words, trying to tactfully work the situation. He really didn't want visitors at this point. "Consider myself… roused."

"Oh c'mon! You can't expect me to buy that hogwash so easily, eh?"

"Taylor, seriously." Aura scolded her sister. "He's been through so much. If Rend needs some time to rest, than we should give him that."

"Oh but Aura, who wants to be cooked up in solitary confinement?" Rend silently answered to himself, shaking his head. "C'mon. I mean…" Taylor paused. Surprisingly, her face dimmed. "Hey Shades?" She seemed to be speaking cautiously now, something Rend wasn't expecting. It prodded him to listen a bit more intently. "Hey look… I just… I mean… OK. I just wanted to say… I'm sorry about what happened to your friend."

"How did you find out about that?"

"Overheard Hotshot talking to my father. Scary stuff, man! It's bad enough as it is, but something like that? Ooh…" Her hands were placed on her hips as she looked upward. "Man, I tell ya'. Or at least, I was thinking about it anyway. Chilling prospect... I mean, if I had to watch one of my own sisters go down like that? Talk about horrific! I'd lose myself for sure! I know you probably don't know what I'm talking about, but me and my sisters are tight. Just losing them in the first place would be bad enough, but these numbskulls take it to a level that's just—"

"So moving on!" Aura cut her off, recalling her previous conversation with Rend. "How are things up top? No more sightings to concern the defenses over-"

"What's your deal? You act like I'm speaking taboo! You know how I am about my kindred!"

"Taylor, just enough! It's—"

"Aura, really, it's fine." Rend understood where she was going with her mannerisms; at this point, it seemed stupid to try and keep up any other ruses. "The whole 'sister' thing doesn't bother me, really."

A hush fell over Taylor, if only momentarily. "Do you… I mean, Shades?" Taylor looked longingly at the male. "Do you have a sister?"

If he answered now, he was sure he'd have to continue. This was something totally foreign to him: talking about his sister to others. It was just sort of bottled up in his own self in a way that was coherent to himself. He liked it that way. He had no desire to try and explain anything to anyone about it. He felt it was none of their business.

Taylor sat down on the bed, coming closer to Rend. "Well?"

She was like a child who'd just seen something out of a fantasy storybook. The innocence in her voice was evident, though it seemed blatantly ignorant from his point of view. But would he say now? Aura already knew, and she wasn't making any attempt to cover him this time. Sighing, he answered. "Yeah, I have a sister… but she's gone now… it happened a long time ago, so…"

"That's…" Taylor took a quick glance at her two other sisters, then diverted her eyes straight into Rend. "That's awful. I'm so sorry."

Rend shrugged. He really didn't know what else to do. It wasn't like he was about to show any emotion at that instant. "Yeah."

"I'd be devastated if I lost one of my sisters. You must really miss her. I'm sure she held a special place in her life… that kind of place that you can't just fill with anyone else."

And then, for a moment, Rend looked up at Taylor. Was it possible that, just maybe, she understood him in a small degree? What did it mean to him, though? But it was strange, or at least compared to what he was accustomed to. He couldn't get most people to give him the time of day. Sure, Taylor was an energetic firecracker who could probably get along with most people, but now Rend could see glimpses of a deeper person he hadn't seen before.

"Hmm… siblings are fantastic, ya' know. Take mine, for instance." Taylor smiled at her two sisters. "Hanna's great at just being there. She's quiet, but stronger than she looks. And Aura I can always count on to come through in a pinch. Haha…" Taylor was reveling in her own memories, her feet swinging back and forth over the bed. "Nothing like it in the world, right? Bound by bonds incredible, eh?"

Hanna nodded as Aura spoke up. "You always seem to have the right things to say when it comes to it... most of the time. Minor complaint the other few times, of course, given its just part of your personality. But it's more than I started out with."

"Hey, even adopted siblings should get the full package!"

Rend sat up a bit straighter. "You're adopted, Aura?"

"Oh yes, but it doesn't bother me to talk about it. I've been through... a lot, so to have a family really means something to me."

"She stumbled upon our little abode here some years back. She wasn't in bad shape, but I wouldn't say she looked to be in good shape either." Taylor paused. "Well, she was quite the cool one. Hanna and I would go out for the sole purpose of seeing her. We'd ride the streets and just hang out, sharing good time after good time..."

"But she was still homeless, of course," Hanna pointed out.

"Yeah, didn't even stop to think about it. I mean, she seemed to take such good care of herself that I didn't even notice. She was the quite the independent one, ya' know? Besides, we were so busy just having runnin' around town! Aura sure knew how to have a good time."

"Good time?" Aura rolled her eyes. "We probably spent a good deal of it trying to bail you out of trouble! Hanna was always trusty in that regard when you'd get in for it over your head, but still it wore us down."

"Well, be happy the law was never involved. I'm not THAT big of a troublemaker. Still, I remember that one time I raced that other guy. You all were being sticks in the mud and told me not to. Of course, I didn't listen!"

Hanna gave an exasperated groan. "And then you had that absolutely awful wipeout. I just about keeled over myself. Your leg was so busted up from it. You couldn't even walk!"

"Yeah, she broke her leg," Aura continued. "Hanna and I had to delicately escort her back to the complex. That's when I first met their father."

"And opportunity came a knockin'!" Taylor proudly exclaimed. "Despite father's state of frustration with me, I told him about how helpful Aura had been and of her current situation."

"And then you couldn't help but pose the question." Hanna smiled sheepishly. "Father didn't even know what to say."

"Well now, he just had to say yes! What else could he say?" Aura leaned back and took a deep breath. She relaxed herself, as if she hadn't taken a breath the entire time the story had been told. "And there you have it. That's how we all ended up as sisters! We've been tight ever since. Aura's the voice of reason, Hanna's the quiet one, and I'm the girl who can't keep her mouth shut. We all make a pretty good team."

Taylor paused yet again, but quickly moved on to her next line of questioning. "OK, so tell me. What was your sister like, Rend?"

Rend's expression shifted from one of quiet attention to concealed frustration. Up to this point, he'd been content to listen. But not it came to him, and unfrotunately they already had one foot in the door; dodging the subject wasn't necessarily a good option for Rend at that point. Maybe he could just be vague. "Well… she was quite a bit older than me. She had a job in the military and she was very good at what she did. Amazing soldier, she was. She could mark her target and hit it every time. But of course… that's not why I loved her so much…"

Taylor's eyes were like glass ornaments, gleaming with intrigue. Rend continued. "She left all of it behind to come take care of me. Sure, she'd sustained an injury from a major conflict, but she could've continued on. But she chose… she chose to be an older sister than be a renowned veteran. She poured herself into me…"

Rend checked himself. Was he getting emotional at all? The fact was, he found it next to impossible to talk of his sister without getting emotionally invested in it. Taylor giggled. "She sounds like a real trooper! Choosing family over fame, huh? Better resume than Hotshot, I'd say."

Rend rolled his eyes. "Let's not even bring him into the conversation, all right? Anyway, where was I?" Rend folded his arms neatly and relaxed on the backboard of the bed. "Well, she taught me everything I know. Basically, prepared me to take care of myself. Taught me basic combat skills, some survival skills—dabbled into some cooking even."

"You? Cook?" Taylor roared with a single loud laugh. "Get out."

"I could if I really wanted to. Don't expect any gourmet cuisine though. She also was the one who gave me this dagger. It's a… very important memento for me."

"And a valuable asset." Aura pointed out.

"Yeah, exactly. She covered everything. I think… maybe she knew one day that she wasn't going to be around." Rend's emotions stirred yet more. It'd been a long time since he'd really thought any of this through. "I don't know the extent of everything that went through her head, but she had enough insight into her own future to see what was going to happen. And so... she was a sister. When she finally passed on, she had equipped me. She did so much for me…"

What memories. Rend was surprised to realize he hadn't unearthed such things in years. Though he was tempted to be melancholy, he actually managed to smile. "Sis..."

"Hey, hey!" Taylor burst out. "Shades has learned the less strenuous posture for his mouth!"

Rend proceeded to go into more of a half-smile. "Don't push it."

"So what else was she like?" Hanna suddenly asked, in her mild voice, pushing with an energy not yet seen of her. "Did she ever tell you any of stories of when she was in the military? Her exploits? Her teammates?"

"Oh yeah," Rend now readily replied. "I mean, she did keep a lot to herself. She didn't say a lot about who she worked with or what she did exactly. You just don't run around exposing classified information. Probably knew a lot more than the average soldier from what I could gather. She managed to climb pretty high up the ladder in the short time she worked as a soldier. But if you want an interesting story, she did tell me about this one time. She's not one to exaggerate details, and so I'm sure this was just as intense as it sounds..."


	16. The Mystery of Anomalies

**Chapter 16**

**The Mystery of Anomalies**

Rend shuffled his feet through the dust and rubble. He had had quite the afternoon with the sisters... or at least they had enjoyed it. He'd told them quite a few stories about his sister. He wasn't even sure how it all happened; hopefully they wouldn't hound him too much now that he'd opened up some. Regardless, he wasn't feeling as tense as before.

A faint evening breeze whistled through the hollows of the ruin. Rend readjusted his long violet coat and searched the surrounding area around him. He could see mothers with their children, trying to settle them down for the evening. They still had one thing on their minds, and that was to romp and enjoy life, while their mothers anxiously tried to get some food in their stomachs and prepare them for bed. The few men he saw appeared to be on a sort of patrol. Some looked confident, while others looked apprehensive. Needless to say, conditions weren't the best.

Scrap and beams were miscellaneously piled all over; some of it had even been arranged to form makeshift shelters inside the lower level of the dilapidated building. But it was a far cry from the norm the citizens of this particular city were used to. Everything had flipped so quickly, and it was almost shocking to think that everyone had been able to adjust already, if only to a bare minimum. Yet the desolation was already clear. As the sunset light filtered in from above, it illuminated clearly just how one building in a city of many previously gleaming structures had degraded so quickly.

The people themselves looked trodden under as well. Their clothes were already starting to stain and become caked with dirt. Rend paused and began to take inventory of his own outfit, realizing he hadn't paid much attention to it since everything had started. He looked passable, at the very least. His coat was dusty, with some torn edges at the bottom. His general outfit was decent too, though his gloves were quite dirty and starting to tear apart in a couple places. Still, he thought, he looked much better than many of the people who had settled into their new homes.

Despite the ray of light that hit him his face from the outside, reminding him of that sun that still shined and gave heat to the world, he couldn't escape the shocking reality before him. The tragedy had felt confined to himself for the most part until now, but he could with much greater clarity see the catastrophic effect the virus was having. If you weren't it's slave, you were its enemy… an enemy that was practically cornered and scraping for whatever bits of fight it could reach.

Rend removed his shades, letting the sunlight more fully hit his face. In about an hour or less, the sun would fall beyond the horizon, and night would once again have its reign. When that happened, who could guess what terrors would arise from the depths? The truth was, Biolife would be looking for any survivors.

Especially him.

"Have you seen him since the incident?" A voice to his left, toward the outer wall, caught Rend's attention. It was followed by another.

"No, I haven't." Both sounded familiar.

"Hmm. Well, are you?"

"Eventually. I haven't had the sense to, I suppose. His physical state was not very desirable, I must say. I wanted to give him some time to recuperate before I spoke with him again."

"Perhaps. He's not as bad as he looks, mind you. Truth is, he has a lot of potential." Rend found himself slowly walking towards the two voices. "He has the skills and training to pull him out of close situations. When it comes down to it, he can pull through. He just needs to understand… how to use it all. He has some big shoes to fill, and as such he has a lot of ground to cover…"

Rend peeked around the corner of a large support, standing half in sight. He only saw one person though. Immediately he was noticed. "Well what do ya' know."

"Vex." Rend stepped out behind the wall. He was now standing in a sort of bunker. It was a defense set up against any threats, no doubt organized by Vex. It looked well-organized given supplies, but that was no surprise to Rend at this point. "So, how've you been holding up?"

"You're asking? I should be the one asking you."

"Well, I'm standing, aren't I?"

"Hmph. You were a total disaster when they pulled you in. I'm not even sure how you survived… despite the fact that these tin cans are rather mindless. Regardless of everything, you still stuck your neck out way too far."

"I needed to find out about Ghar."

"And you did," Vex solemnly replied. "Happy?" Rend was unresponsive, his face somewhat tight. "I told you, didn't I? Yet you ran out there and acted like an idiot."

"He was my friend, Vex," Rend retaliated, this time without hesitation. "I had to know."

"Boy, you just don't get it, do you? This new world order doesn't favor the lesser of two evils. Expect the worst."

"So just give up? Throw away all hope?"

"Don't act stupid. That's what I'm getting at, and you have enough common sense to figure that out."

Both looked out towards the illuminated cityscape, the orange glow of the sunset beginning to fade. Neither of them looked at the other. Rend could just feel his insides almost burning up. "I'm willing to take my chances."

"I see." Vex blandly replied. "So you just want to play the game of hero, is that it? Run around, pretending like you have the answers to everyone's problems? You need to grow up…"

"Perhaps his intent is more noble than you realize."

Rend turned at hearing the voice he'd heard before. As he heard the voice at a closer distance, the characteristics of it gave away its speaker. That, and it was rather obvious once he could see who it was. "Model P?"

Model P floated a short space off to the side of Rend. "It's good to see you're up and walking. Very good."

Rend released a deep sigh, shrugging. "Yeah, I guess."

"I take it you're not very pleased with me."

Vex gave Rend an inquisitive look as Rend slowly came to reply. "Well, I can't say I'm a huge fan."

"...I don't blame you."

No one said a word in the following seconds. Vex was the first to move. "I suppose I should leave you two gentlemen alone, hm? Don't run yourself over, boy." Vex gave Rend a forceful hit to the shoulder as he walked away in the direction Rend had come from.

"That guy is such a frustration."

"He deserves more credit than he gets."

"Ya' don't say."

Rend propped himself up on a leaning beam, glancing out at the sunlight that was slowly waning. The orange, purple, and dark blue atop it all was crawling down the sky, and night would soon come upon them again. It brought back a flood of memories of the previous night. Rend found himself trying to find some manner of courage, but even now he felt faded and worn. Sitting in a beaten-out hole made him feel he was lacking in the ability to do much of anything.

"I've been performing a data analysis."

Rend reluctantly gave him his attention. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The events from last night."

"How could I forget?"

Model P paused. "Anyway, there appears to be a strange form of interference within your system. I think that was the cause of our problems."

"Of course." Rend shook his head. "It's my fault."

"That's not what I meant."

"It's what you implied."

"You do realize that I seek to help you, right?"

"I don't even half know what you are."

"Then I shall explain. Biometal operates on a system known as the M.E.G.A. system. In basic terms, merging a biomatch host with a biometal will unleash the power of the warrior encapsulated within, and grant the host with incredible strength and ability."

"So you mean like a set of mechanical armor, right?"

"Comparably, that is correct."

Rend nodded, his expression remaining grim. "So basically we're talking like the mechaniloid disaster that Biolife just ripped on the city."

"I can see where you could draw that conclusion. However, we do not enslave our hosts. Rather, human and biometal aid each other. It is a much more bonded relationship."

"So kind of like pseudoroids. Why are we arguing about this?"

There was no follow-up counter. Rend sighed and went back to his moping. Model P hung in the air as silence remained for a small span. "Excuse me, Rend?"

"What?"

"Would you mind if I performed a semi-active analysis on your systems?"

"I don't know what you just said, but I don't like the sound of it."

"Basically, a safe-mode merging attempt. I'll be analyzing different factors to understand what exactly went wrong last night."

Rend stood up straight. "No."

"The effects of the last attempt will not repeat themselves with such severity. If you are a Chosen One, then it would be to our great advantage to delve into this situation. For everyone's sake."

Going into another state of painful shock sounded very unappealing, and considering the fact that he knew next to nothing of biometal, he was very much against it. He had no idea as to the true intents of Model P either. It was a matter of ignorance and mistrust that held him back.

A thought struck him. "Can you do something for me?"

"What would that be?"

"Would you be able to figure out why…" Rend hesitated. He scanned the area quickly and then lowered his voice. "Why the Z-Virus hasn't affected me like everyone else?"

"Vex had mentioned something about that."

"It's eating away at me. Are they waiting for the right moment or something? Or am I just immune?" Rend snarled. "I just don't know."

"I can make no guarantees, but I can try."

Rend shrugged. "Just do it, then." He stiffened up as Model P floated over towards his arm. Effortlessly placing itself in the according place, Rend felt practically nothing for the first five seconds. He was a bit apprehensive as to whether or not things would suddenly turn again…

"Hey!"

Rend shook his arm out as a stinging sensation shot momentarily through his body. It wasn't anything overly intense, but it was enough to send a bit of a shockwave through his body. Model P removed himself from the bioframe and floated in front of Rend. "Sorry."

Somewhat irritated, Rend motioned. "Well?"

"It's as I suspected. Something pertaining to the Z-Virus distorted my readings. You… aren't a Chosen."

It was quite the negative statement to make. Model P actually sounded somewhat disappointed. But it didn't phase Rend. "As if it mattered to me in the first place. But what about the Z-Virus itself?"

Model P made something of a sighing noise. "I apologize. I wasn't able to figure out what has given you immunity."

"Yeah, sure." Rend straightened out again. "That about rings right with the rest of your performance thus far."

Model P looked as if he was about to say something in return, but Rend didn't give him time. He started walking away back into the underground shadows, the which were growing larger as the sun continued to recede on the horizon. Model P hung in the air, uncertain of what to do.

"It appears I have awoken in a time hostile to my presence."

* * *

A pair of searching eyes peered around the corner of a tall structure that concealed the body. They glanced up and down, looking for movement, but found none. "Oh blast it! Where is he?"

Then in a split second, he reacted to a sudden instinct. He leapt to his side, swinging around just in time to see a large disk slice the ground. Quickly following on it was the red reploid Flare, landing forcefully beside.

"Cheeky pipsqueak! Stand still!"

"Get real, pinhead!"

Drawing his icy blue dagger, the small, cyan reploid Chill swung with all the furious might he could. Slyly smiling, Flare deflected the hit by using his disk as a shield. "Not a chance!" Violently he began to swing the disk like a saw blade in front of him, trying to throw his opponent off balance. Chill kept jumping back, parrying each strike with mere inches to spare. Flare was advancing aggressively, and Chill wasn't getting an opening to attack.

"Wha! Hey now!" Chill sputtered. "You're cutting it real close! Too bad you have no aim when it comes to hitting a kid! I bet you couldn't even hit the broadside of an oversized Mettaur!"

"Stupid punk!" Flare swung mightily to the right in a diagonal slash, while Chill proceeded to propel back, finally putting some distance between him and his attacker. Flare scowled. "First off, mettaurs don't have broadsides, you moron! Second, close calls are not my style!"

Lunging back, Flare whipped the disk through the air with tremendous velocity. He'd managed to back Chill into a narrower passage, and now Chill couldn't dodge to his side. But to Flare's startling, Chill took flight. Mounting on top of the horizontal disk, he flew through the air straight at Flare, who was now without a weapon or shield.

"I have you now, loser!"

"Not quite! Nyaya!"

Spooked by the screeching voice, Chill curled up right there in the air as another being screamed past him. Chill tumbled to the ground behind Flare, uninjured but still slightly unnerved. The perpetrator proceeded to land impressively on the other side of Flare, and quickly whirled around, displaying his two long scythes.

"You forget, weakling!" The green reploid said in his high, twisted voice. "You failed to account for the mighty fighter that is me!" With a shrill battle cry, he struck a pose. "Tremble and fear! For now, I will personally acquaint you with the silver end of my—"

A glow of light and sparks was followed by a faint, dumb groan as Reaver flopped to the ground in a rather pathetic manner. His rant remained unfinished because of a numbing palm to his back. Almost simultaneously, Flare received an icy blow to his backside from Chill, as his attention had turned to Reaver and away from Chill.

Chill's teammate, Void, merely sighed a great breath as he let his sparking hand fall to the side. "You're so unrefined."

"We win!" Chill gleefully shouted. "We win! We win! We win! In your faces!"

Void rolled his eyes as far back as he could muster. "Calm yourself, Chill. It's merely another training session victory. Save the celebrations for real combat."

"What he said, because I didn't see very much real combat at all."

The room lit up as the high-rising structures sunk into the floor, serving also to reveal a confident-looking Nova, his partner Star at hand. "In all fairness, Commander, Chill did show improvement over earlier issues… unlike the blind edgeman."

"Beeeh…" Reaver struggled to raise himself. "You just hate everything I do. That's the problem!"

"I'm hard to please. You'd best start acknowledging that. Your performance I found somewhat lacking too, Flare."

"Yeah, well, that's because… I… hmm."

"Whatever." Nova waved uncaringly at the reddish reploid. "All I know is that that was the prime example of boring. Why not engage in some real combat? What do you say to that, Star?"

"An excellent idea, Commander."

"Chill and I against the two of you?" Void finally smiled. "Well now, this should prove interesting."

"For you, maybe." Nova drew his sword. "But for us? Indulge me anyway."

"Excuse my impoliteness..."

Star took a quick glance over his shoulder, his eyebrow furrowing up. "Hm? ...Ghorlust? What are you doing? And who-?"

"What now?" Nova cocked his head in irritation. True, there stood the pseudoroid, but that was not what caught his attention... and further frustration. "Oh, really?"

Ghorlust also appeared annoyed as well. That was because another reploid unfamiliar to him was scanning him almost unceasingly. He seemed entirely engrossed as he began to speak. "Armor build appears adequate. Manueverability was obviously the priority over strength. Yet careful observation shows me you are well equipped for combat. Energy capacitors are sterling given the technological basis, and from that perspective-"

"Hey!" Nova whistled at the newcomer. "Over here!"

Star cleared his throat. "Dr. Maximus... salutations. Under what occasion have you graced our presence?"

"Can't a scientist satiate his curiousity every once and awhile?"

The reploid had incredibly dark navy hair, the likes of which looked black from a substantial distance. It was rather unkempt, spiking this way and that in short protrusions. As for the rest of his figure, in contrast, he looked suitably refined. A long silverish labcoat ran down to his knees, sporting bright orange buttons down the coat and sleeves, and he had impressively-plated silver boots to match. Black pants, a suit underneath his labocat that matched the color of his hair, and a glossy regal orange bioframe were easily distinguished. The bioframe appeared to be heavily modified, built as armlets and as a part of his boots, and the headpiece even had a half-visor that extended over his right eye; as for his left eye, its mahogany color was more defined as seen through his scholarly monocle. Everything about him seemed distinct and unique.

Of course, he was anything but full of himself at that moment. He was more taken with the one beside him. "I mean, look at this. You've really pressed the norm with this one, Star." He began to run his hands over varying parts of the pseudoroid, another thing Ghorlust had no taste for. "Human yet mechaniloid and reploid in demeanor. A wonderful formula of power and mind. It's enough to steal one's breath away..."

"Don't you have anything better to do than poke my machinery?"

"Actually, funny you should mention it." Nova mentally kicked himself for even asking when Maximus looked up at him with an oily scientist smile, something Nova wished he wasn't accustomed to. "I did actually have a reason for-gracing, was it Star?-yes, gracing your humble abode."

"Gracing wasn't my choice of words." Nova mumbled.

"Well, all the same. I have an interesting tale to tell. Oh yes."

Star's eyes suddenly lit up. "Flare, Chill, Void, Reaver... you are dismissed."

"Aw, but what about our battle?" Chill moaned.

"Control yourself, Chill." Void muttered in a high whisper. Flare merely shrugged, uninterested, and followed the others out. It took more than a few seconds though; Reaver hobbled out rather slowly as he was still trying to regain feeling in his legs. The eyes of those that remained watched him with a mix of pity and shame.

Nova shook his head, his train of thought momentarily recalling and criticizing the recent failures of his underlings. "Anyway."

"So I was paying a visit to the Idden branch of the labs, yes? I do enjoy that one, as there is much to do and accomplish there. But I digress... it was sometime less than two hours ago when your sharp colleague of Star's approached me with some interesting news."

"So I trust he's been performing well for you, then?" Star inquired. "I haven't assessed Tempest's performance lately."

"Oh, sharp indeed. But that's not important right now. Getting back to the primary issue, he called me into one of the research rooms and pointed out something on one of the monitors. According to the scanners, we had detected a very strange signal. I was fascinated to say the least."

"Great." Nova tried to sound amused. "And this affects me how?"

"Well, Commander, perhaps it would interest you more if I told you it was coming from this sector. Or was. The signature lasted for less than ten seconds, according to Tempest. Regardless, I was fascinated by this and analyzed the limited data we'd obtained." Maximus' eyes lit. "Upon further study, I beamed over here with all due haste."

"So you decided to take a field trip, eh?" Nova laughed, as it was all he found suitable at that point. "As if I didn't have enough things in my hair. So whatever. Humor me. Some mechaniloid have an erratic energy spike? Or did something just explode in a really fancy fashion?"

Maximus paused, then countered with a laugh of his own. "Tell me something, Commander. What have you been up to lately?"

"As if its any of your business."

"Perhaps, but I know you've been spending some time in the labs, monitoring the Z-Virus progression and control schemes. Anything else?"

"You know I hate lab work. I know how to input commands into the virus system, and that's all I need to know. I'll save the other research mush for you lab monkeys."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Nova yelled, his voice echoing profusely through the open expanse. "For crying out loud!"

"Well, that's just flat-out strange then." Maximus gazed from side to side, nodding his head. "Because the signal came from a location quite outside the range of the labs here." He looked at the wall as if it was transparent, staring out into what was beyond the lab.

"Great. Then go see what it is." A stout scowl came to Nova's face. "See if I care... oh wait, I don't."

"But it was a very intriguing thing on our scanners..." Maximus tauntingly looked away. "Commander, it was a biometal signature."

Nova choked, if only for an instant. He composed himself into an inconspicuous position. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, obviously not!" Maximus chuckled. "But on many occasion the guilty party makes innocent claims before they're even charged."

Concerned, Star stepped in. "Dr. Maximus, you know that we keep a very tight belt on security measures around here."

"Ah, of course." Maximus again took to nodding his head. "So you mean to tell me it was stolen."

Star bit his lip. Nova, on the other hand, continued to glare ferociously at the scientist. "Don't you have some test tubes to blow up?"

"What baffles me, Commander, is how it was stolen. As Star so conveniently pointed out, I'm sure you don't leave your doors unlocked. So how did you blunder so drastically? Hmm, and I'd hoped that maybe you had been tinkering with it. It's been years since the original biometals have been used... but then again... does that mean...?" Maximus' face lit up something like a solar flare. "Does this mean that a Chosen has appeared?"

"Oh for the love of-you fantasy fanatic! You know as well as I do that no Chosens exist out there!"

"For all we know," Star began again, treading more cautiously. "What you could've seen was a fluke."

"Yes, I'd supposed so. But I didn't tell you yet: Tempest and I reviewed previous logs and found another instance of biometal signature... less than forty-eight hours apart. Can you explain that? Oh, how I scolded the staff there for not notifying me when that happened! Things just don't seem to run clockwork when I'm away... but alas. Besides, why did I find this Ghorlust character in the repair bay? I've noticed his repairs are not complete; what could've possibly caused such things?" Maximus pointed skyward. "I'll tell you! A Chosen!"

"Oh, stop being so dramatic!" Nova shouted. "We all know perfectly well that no Chosen is going to just pop up out of some sewer manhole. I would think that such facts wouldn't need to be elaborated on, but apparently your memory is corrupted! No Chosen ones! I knew that, Star knew that... I bet even Ghorloss knew that!"

Ghorlust shifted uncertainly. "Um, beg your pardon, but I was not informed of that. And its, um, Ghorlust."

"Hey, why don't you go hang from a ceiling somewhere?"

It came from his master's superior officer, so Ghorlust turned and casually made his way for the exit. Nova gave a low growl. Maximus simply continued. "I suppose this hasn't reached Arc yet."

"It never will." Nova said in a sudden calmness. "It'll be dealt with before he has the chance to even know."

"You are a bold one, Nova. I enjoy watching your ruses."

"Because everything is nothing more than the scientific method to you. But this isn't toy time anymore. Some dummy has my biometal, and I don't even know where to start looking!"

"Commander," Star spoke up. "That's-"

"Hello?" A wily Maximus beckoned at Nova. "I have the coordinates from the signal."

Nova paused, feeling somewhat silly. He exposed no hints to such a thing, of course. "Well then. Why didn't we pick that up, Star?"

"Our scanners probably aren't as powerful as the ones in Idden. It is one of the more illustrious research branches."

"Maybe your little visit is going to pay off after all." Nova shrugged, then relaxed as he slid his hands into the pockets of his trenchcoat. Now that he had a lead, it appeared he was collected as could be. Star noticed this, and also expressed relief of his own.

"Shall I brief the Lower Vanguard?"

"No. Leave them out of this. I don't need them trashing this up. That goes for Ghorlost too. It'll be just me and you handling this the professional way, like it should have been."

"Yes yes... professionalism. That would have been nice when the biometal was first lifted."

"Quit egging me already. I'll clean your clock... get away with it too," Nova brashly jeered at the scientist. "You just sit in front of your computer monitor and watch while I clean house around here."

"With pleasure. I anticipate seeing your work, Commander."


	17. Blazing a Course

**Chapter 17**

**Blazing a Course**

Rend sunk into the ratty makeshift hammock beneath him, his arm dangling back and forth over the side. His sunglasses lay on a wooden board, neat and undisturbed. He couldn't remember a time he'd felt so disgustingly lazy. But he was technically out of a job and simply trying to survive, and since no danger stood in front of him, there wasn't much else to do. He was weary of Vex, and he was sure anything related to the defense of the facility would have to go through him; if he started taking initiative, he was sure Vex would find something to reprimand him for doing incorrectly. He stared blankly at the ceiling, though it posed little amusement to him. Of course, amusement was of little value to him anyway.

"Wow, you would think a guy who just came out of the infirmary would want to to do more than be bedridden."

Rend grimaced. Her again. "You get tired of pestering your sisters?"

Rend turned to the side to see Taylor smirk. "That's just not fun. They're used to it," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I find that to be highly unlikely."

"Out come the fangs, eh?"

Rend moved his legs over the hammock's side. "What in all that's sane could you possibly want with me?"

Taylor shifted her hair back as she ran her hand to the side of her head, holding herself in a thoughtful posture. "Well, I don't know. You just seem like a cool guy. At least, you are when you aren't sitting around like everything just exploded."

Rend waited a few seconds. "That would be inaccurate how?"

"Ha... you're so funny."

She spoke as if they were conversing over dinner. Rend jumped down and stood stout. "You're father's right, isn't he? This is all some royal prank to you, isn't it?"

"Well, maybe you just can't see things right without your cool-man sunglasses on."

Rend was statue-like. "I'm over this whole cryptic speak thing everyone is doing."

"OK, think about it." Unrelenting, Taylor began stating her case. "When I first met you, you were ready to storm the armies with nothing more than a blaster pistol, right? Explosions did not affect your reasoning. Now suddenly you're in this slump where you're like every other dope sitting around here."

Rend nodded. "Point?"

"So you're telling me that you're just going to wait for it all to go downhill?"

"I don't see much I can do at this point," Rend sighed. "I'm not a superhero, remember? And since no one seems overly eager to start a resistance, our options are pretty limited."

"Listen to yourself!" The noise level of the room suddenly intensified with one statement. Taylor shook her head, sticking out her tongue and making a vomiting noise. "You're making me sick! You're all depressed and junk now. This isn't the same guy that walked into this place!"

"Technically, if I do recall, I was carted in here."

"Whatever!"

Rend looked down at the girl who only a few inches shorter than him. She looked fiercely into his own eyes, a searching bullet-like gaze in her fiery eyes. She was expecting something meaningful out of him, most certainly, but Rend simply shrugged. "Apparently I'm just useless. I wouldn't deny feeling somewhat that way."

"Well, just stop being useless!"

Taylor put it out like it was a simple command to follow. In essence, Rend was more than capable; he still, however, felt cornered and inept. He was growing unsettled as Taylor continued to glare at him, when another figure came around the corner.

"Taylor? Taylor! Where did you go? I told you-hm?" The man caught sight of the two. "Oh, you're with... him." Mr. Valien strode up to the pair, giving Taylor the eyes of a delirious hawk. "Why can't I seem to control you? Is it so hard to follow what I say?"

"Father, look, I was just taking a quick walk to clear my mind. Things aren't all flowers right now, you know?"

"Hmph." He averted his attention at Rend. He gave him searching glances; Rend gave an almost inaudible grunt. "So you're feeling better, hm? No lingering symptoms? No strange sensations? No fits of any sort?"

Rend raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

Mr. Valien narrowed his gaze. "Well? Don't you have anything to say? Is there some reason you're not answering my questions?"

Rend shifted. It occured to him that maybe he was suspicious of him. For what reason, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't about to let on to the fact that he had the Z-Virus. "No, I'm fine."

Rend stated it as clear as he could. Mr. Valien sighed, scuffling from side to side. He seemed uncontent with the answer. Honestly, Rend didn't feel threatened by him, so he had no problem standing his ground. "Well, whatever," Mr. Valien finally muttered. "Just... play it safe. I don't need any disease going around the camp, you understand? If you feel sick at all, see Sable immediately! There's no telling what you could've contracted out there..."

They both knew exactly what he could've caught out in the city. Rend just rolled his eyes and gave the impression that he was uninterested. Taylor suddenly moaned. "Father, can't you be a little bit nicer?"

"Do you have any idea how much it takes to run this place? We have to be on top of the ball! People need to fill their places and not complain, and that is that!"

"Why do you have to worry so much? We're all fine!"

"Now listen here, Taylor Elizabeth Valien. You-"

"Bah! I hate it when you say my middle name! You know that!"

Rend sighed. "Elizabeth? If I start calling you by that name, what would you do?"

Taylor smirked and looked at him wittingly. "I'd kick you in the shins and follow up with a backhand to the side or back of your head, whichever is more convenient. I'd still hound you though, so tough luck."

"Eh, it was worth a shot..."

"This is no time for jokes! While you two fritter away your hours in leisure, everything hangs in the balance!"

Enough of this. "Then I'll let you get down to your business. Excuse me." Near emotionless, Rend briskly swept up his glasses and walked around the adult, out into the opening Mr. Valien had appeared from.

"Hey!" Taylor protested. "I'm not done with you yet!"

"Taylor, close that mouth of yours already! That dark character isn't anyone you should be falling in with."

"Dark character? What in all madness is up with you?"

"Hmph." Mr. Valien shook his head. "I don't like him. He's far too secretive. He obviously has his own agenda."

"So what? I could've told you that. Doesn't mean he's a bad guy."

"You don't know that."

"Well, I like him anyway. Well, not like that... I don't think he's cute or anything, but he seems to have a good head on his shoulders. We can use go-getters like him." Taylor shifted. "Besides, we don't have to pry secrets out of everyone. What about Aura?"

"That just proves my point more! She hardly ever speaks to anyone about where she came from, what she did... I never wanted to let her into our dwelling, but of course you drag me through all this dispicable mud."

"Aura has been great to us! And Rend is nice too! I mean, not nice like he's friendly, but nice as in cool... oh, you know what I mean."

"Look, forget it. I don't want to have this argument right now. Just get back to your duties and make yourself useful."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going."

Rend listened intently from around the corner, unbeknowst to the father and daughter. Just as he suspected. Apparently he had an air of mysteriousness about him. Quite frankly, he wasn't surprised. Shunned and looked upon cautiously... it was nothing new to him. Yet, he'd almost hoped that maybe he could've been a bit more.

An ally. He'd already lost Ghar. Was it so much to ask for one person to stand by him? Maybe he'd feel more compelled to do something. But if everyone, friend or foe, would just fight against him, what difference did it make? He knew there was some weakness in his reasoning, but who could he find? Skeptics? Refugees? No one would be interested in helping him, he thought...

Although... there was that.

* * *

Some time after the sun's departure from the sky and a small space before midnight, a torrent had begun. Despite the glistening sunset of earlier, storm clouds had slipped in under the cover of night, obscuring the stars and bringing a powerful downpour. Sleeping denizens stirred only slightly, however, save a few who were more tense. Many were still up, supervising the nightly activities and running errands either for Mr. Valien or Vex. To put down their guard at any time, especially at night, was to invite senseless catastrophe. Alertness was key to prevent any intrusions.

One pair of eyes watched the surroundings much more carefully than all the rest. Narrowing his eyes and focusing, he took note of every little detail, assessing potential openings in the defense. But these eyes did not belong to someone who sought the fortitude of the shelter; they belonged to one zeroed in on a prize. The figure who housed the piercing eyes sat atop a steady ceiling beam, contemplating the manner of tactics by which he would move next. He could not be seen lest he throw off his entire operation. But he would not, of course, for it would be highly uncharacteristic...

Star was much better of a tactician than that.

The reading they had obtained had lead them straight to the shelter. Model P had obviously done something to emit the signal. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, it had been the traces of energy from Model P's second "merging" attempt with Rend. Now, things were in full motion to get the biometal back... and make the thieves pay in the process. Star's objective was simple: retrieve the biometal without detection... a simple cakewalk, he thought to himself. The only notable obstacle was to locate it.

Keeping a serious face, he raised one hand to his ear while the other arm raised his bioframe to his mouth. Silently, he spoke. "Star, reporting in."

"Copy. Commander Nova, obviously. Have you located the biometal?"

"Negative. Exact coordinates from the signal took me to the outer rift of the base. I've moved farther in. Currently scanning the perimeter for traces."

"Excellent. What is your current location?"

"Approximately forty yards due south-southwest of the signal coordinates."

"Affirmative. Avoid detection at all costs... and I mean at all costs."

"Understood. Continuing with operation."

"Hey Star?" The intruder paused momentarily to listen. "Don't-mess-this-up."

"Affirmative. Maintain radio silence from this point forward. Star, out."

Sensing the coast was clear, he crisply descended down behind a stack of crates, stirring up just a touch of dust. He brushed it from his damp bioframe, the which he'd proceeded to, along with the rest of his body, speed dry with his fiery antics. He didn't need to be leaving any unprofessional, telling trails of water. He peered out from behind the crates ever so stealthfully. He raised a finger to the headset part of his bioframe and materialized a visor-like object. Glancing through it, he began to x-ray all about him for what he sought.

"C'mon," He whispered almost completely inaudibly. "It has to be around here somewhere." Suddenly a large reticule on the screen honed in on a broad area with a faint energy signal. Star grinned. "In my sights." The visor disappeared as his hand moved away and formed slowly into a victor's fist. Then quickly, Star surveyed the surrounding supplies, moving his foot across the dirt among some miscellaneous items. Coming across a small, thin metal rod, Star smiled and kicked it up into his hands. Peering around from his cover once more, he searched first for targets and then for a door.

Seeing it directly to his right, he darted smoothly out and was upon the door in quite literally a second. He had maybe five seconds-at best-before he risked compromising his position. One hand wrapped around the door handle in a grip, forceful but gently silent... locked. Instinctively, the other hand delicately yet fiercely rammed the rod into the lock, toying with it feverishly but without panic. Star remained composed even in those few seconds of urgency, an uncanny expertise under pressure practically exuding from him. But there would be no one around to take in the vibes. No sooner did the lock click, Star cracked the door just enough, whirled around its side, and closed it quietly.

The room was small and dark, little light much of anywhere filtering in. One could see faint shinings from the hall from over the dilipidated ceiling. Otherwise, it was a rather dank room with little more than a hammock and some military supplies. It felt more like the deep innard of a cave than a room, unwelcoming to guests seeking a pleasant refuge. Nothing moved from its spot or rose to glare at him, much to Star's pleasure. Concealed by shadows and isolated from sight, almost illusively Star stalked across the room with the unlit visage of an assassin. The room was subject to the discretion of his searching eyes, palely luminescent with an austere pinkish color.

Finally his eyes fell upon it. Sitting on a small, chipping table was the violet object he desired. Model P, the incredible biomtal of shadows... and he'd barely even batted an eye. How easy his job was at times... if not all the time. It was no wonder his excitement was dulled so often. Nothing presented a fresh challenge anymore, but Star knew he had to take pleasure in the accomplishment of the mission. That was what his superiors cared about, and what he expected of those beneath him. And so, to simply reach out and reclaim the biometal was all he needed to do...

Light hit his garment. It was only for a split second, because as soon as it had come thrusting through the open door, he had performed an acrobatic showstopper and taken cover behind a high-stacked pile of cases and large camo-covered cannisters. Certain it was a matter of who, Star angrily wondered at who could possibly be interfering with his near-perfect run.

The figure looked back at the door as he closed it quietly. "Huh. This is Vex's room? Seems so contradictory of him to leave his door unlocked."

Star eagerly took a palm to the face upon the realization of an overlooked detail. But he was not about to dwell on it, and laid in wait for his opportunity to identify the intruder and regain his mission. The footsteps slowly scuffled about the room; whoever it was appeared to be aimlessly wandering. It was irritating, to say the least, for Star. He wished that whoever it was would get on with his business and leave.

On the other side of Star's cover, it was Rend that was taking in what little the room had to offer. He seemed distracted and uncertain of what he was doing. He finally shrugged, apparently uninterested, and turned to leave, when he again stopped short. Something caught his eye... the same target Star had in mind.

Rend sighed gravely. "I thought you might be in here."

Rend stared at the object for several seconds before choosing to breath audibly again. He glanced to the side and noticed a small crate. He hesitated for another few seconds, then walked over, picked it up, and set it in front of the ratty table upon which Model P sat. He took a seat on the crate, then proceeded to continue his stare. It was as if he was mesmerized, unable to say or do anything else. Model P made no motion or noise. The two sat in an undisturbed field of silence, as nothing scuttled about from without or within.

"Hey, you awake?" Rend bluntly muttered. Then he became frustrated, as he wasn't even sure if biometal slept. Then again, he didn't even really know what biometal were in the first place. He suddenly resigned himself to speaking openly and freely in a way he rarely demonstrated. "Look, here it goes. It's a pretty bad scenario we're in, right? I'm pretty much trapped in the same corner everyone else is in, but I can't say I'm real happy about it. Some stand has to be taken, so..."

He paused, leaning back. "You seem eager enough to help us. I don't get a thing about you though, and I can't ignore that. But the truth is... I don't see anyone else stepping up to the plate." Moving forward again, he refocused on the object on the table, intensely consumed with something. One probably could have heard a feather hit the floor; Star, still in hiding, was tactfully controlling his breathing as to mask his presence.

Rend laid his hand on the biometal, raising it slightly off the table, as if trying to unearth what he didn't understand. He felt the detail of the edges and corners, attempting at something he had no skill for. "I'm getting at this. I'm ready to move, and so are you. I still don't really care for you that much... but if you're willing to trust me, I'll trust you. Even if we can't help each other out that much, we can still do something. It's better than both of us going solo." Rend's eyes narrowed. "Well?"

More seconds passed, but neither Rend or Star heard a reply. Without emotion, Rend let his hand go back down to the table and rose from his spot. "I see." Then picking up his walk, he briskly made his way back out the door, letting the room seemingly revert back to its depressed state.

Star finally took a relieved breath. "I thought he'd never leave, but he who waits get the last laugh." Star removed himself and floated back over the table. The image of shadows still remained. Star wasted no more of his precious time. "Mission accomplished." Feeling quite content, Star reached his fingers around the target.

And as soon as he made contact, what was there evaporated into a bizarre data-like mist.

* * *

Rend moved along casually down the hall, unsure what to do next. He looked from side to side, as if watching for something. He looked back in the direction he came from, and then into his hand. "I wonder what's taking him so long."

A response came from his hand. "I wouldn't ask that question if I were you."

Another answer came abruptly. Less than a few yards behind him, what was left of a crumbling wall section was thoroughly reduced to cinders and rubble. An orange wash of fire came pouring through as Rend felt the heat chasing him as he leapt forward and replanted his feet into a defensive position.

The fiery figure came agressively into view as he manuevered through the air and took his position as well. Star stood bent, his palms facing upward with a steady stream of flames coming forth. Rend remained unmoved.

Star didn't bother with any questions or explanations. "I'm not here to play games with you this time. Either give it to me, or I'll give you the worst barbeque of your miserable life."

"As if I'd know. I've never been to one. It'd be the best and worst at the same time." Rend took a step back, watching carefully his opponent. "But in this case, perhaps ignorance is bliss."

"I assure that you'll be experiencing neither by the time I'm done with you."

Rend maintained his stolid glare. "Prove it."

"At your displeasure then."

His hands became something of volcanoes as the room around him began to explode with heated coloration. Rend impulsively started backwards, his body naturally seeking escape from the intense blast of heat. Before his eyes the hall seemed to transform into a furnace, revealing a fury he had not yet seen of the fire-wielding tactician. As Star pulled his hands back to further expand his conquering firestorm, Rend fiercely suppressed the panic which the oncoming flames sought to touch him with and heightened his pace of retreat.

Star furiously lobbed the fire down at the floor, the flames exploding into wild slivers that snaked down the hall. Rend's only exit was still too far behind; he jumped to the left instants before the fire overtook where he had been standing. His feet roughly grabbed the wall, the gritty texture lending itself conveniently to the friction needed in between the two. Pushing yet on, Rend quickly made a diagnol line for the closest exit, leaping and stepping down only for a moment into the fire, jumping again for the open way he saw.

Barely he came around the corner and found himself in a slightly larger room. It was another area for storing supplies, and as such it appeared no one was around. Rend saw no time for seeking help anyway, and after checking to make sure none of his clothing had caught fire, he watched the opening into the burning hall for the reappearance of Star. However, calmness resurfaced. The fire didn't shoot back up but simply burned on, reverting to the gentle noises you'd hear from a simple campfire. Tension deceptively giving ground to a solace, apprehension began to weave its way through Rend, for he knew that what he didn't see was still, quite easily, somewhere near. "Now where did you go?"

A waiting game... another ruse to keep Rend guessing. He conceded within that Star was exceptional at what he did, but he wasn't about to let that stop him. Slowly, he moved back, scanning carefully his surroundings. Everything about him seemed insuspicious and threatening at the same time, as Star could probably use the simplest of things to some advantage. His pulse was on the verge of a frantic pace, but he still yet held it down.

"So..." Rend started mumbling, seemingly to no one. "You hear anything I said back there?"

Model P was still gripped tightly in his hand, and from there came an answer. "Yes, I did."

"And?"

"I never retracted my allegiance. As far I'm concerned, my loyalties remain in the same place."

"You're an odd thing," Rend laughed nervously.

"Only from your point of view. On the other hand, I'm surprised you're even taking the time to carry on this conversation with me right now."

Nothing yet budged around them. Near silence prevailed, save for a few rattling ceiling apendages due to intruding winds. In contrast to the atmosphere, Rend continued to smile and even relaxed. "Yes, the timing doesn't seem right for this. But I beating my head against a wall too, wouldn't you say? Yet still, you seem to understand..."

In a heartbeat, the moment was exposed in a noiseless yet screaming slash of fire. Where he came from was irrevelant, for all that mattered was that Star was about to rush his scorching fingers into the back of Rend's right shoulder. Star appeared to be the only animated figure; all else stood still as a fiery blow rushed at an unfleeing prey.

The detail of Star's movements seemed to play out over the span of an hour, yet all at once with the snap of his legs thrusting him forward, his hand was a mere amount of inches from Rend. Ferociously his hand flew like that of a bullet. No waning of confidence, Star threw all his force into making impact...

Only to have it never come. All the effort was blasted into what felt like vacant air as he passed unwittingly through the figure before him, the mass before him seemingly phasing out of reality.

Star did not miss a beat. He was en route for the dirt but ducked forward and rolled. He quickly rose, spinning about in the process to face that which he was certain he would have hit.

But there he still yet stood. Unharmed... unphased... and unrelenting in his posture and expression.

Holding the biometal up level with with shoulders, Rend nodded with a fervor that was infused into eyes.

"I'm not done yet."


End file.
